Electoral Observation Missions and Recommendations Database



Recommendations
Recommendation Categories Comments
Grant Election Day as a holiday in every state Electoral Organization No Reported Actions
Description
U.S. elections have been held on a Tuesday since 1845. The fact that the election takes place on a working day may present difficulties for citizens that have to go to work. Taking this fact into consideration, the Mission suggests that Election Day be granted as a holiday in every state.

Actions
No reported actions
Implement mechanisms to improve the accuracy of early .. Electoral Organization No Reported Actions
Description
The Mission recommends that states continue to utilize mechanisms to share and compare information in order for each state to avoid duplication of registration for the same election. One of those tools is the Electronic Registration Information Center which allows participating states to improve the accuracy of voter rolls and increase access to voter registration for all eligible citizens. Another mechanism in place is the Interstate Crosscheck Program, which has the purpose of identifying possible duplicate registrations among states.

Actions
No reported actions
Modalities for voter registration Electoral Organization No Reported Actions
Description
As with the other components of the electoral process, each state has the power to regulate the methods and timing for voter registration, resulting in different rules for each state. For the most part, voter registration is uninterrupted and is carried out even during non-electoral periods. While some states close voter registration months before the election, it is more common that registration is permitted up until weeks before the election. Twelve states, plus the District of Columbia, offer the possibility of registering to vote on the day of the election. The modalities for voter registration are equally diverse. In certain states, an individual voter´s registration application may be either sent by mail or the voter may go directly to a registration center. One of the modalities that has increased in recent years is that of online registration. In the context of this election, states plus the District of Columbia offered online registration Services. Online registration is considered the simplest method and one that is more attuned to the current realities of the everyday use of technology. This method usually requires that citizens present proof of identity issued by a public institution. Additionally, Alaska, California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Oregon, Vermont and West Virginia have approved automatic enrollment. While it was only implemented in one state (Oregon) for the 2016 election, it is likely that this modality will spread in the coming years due to the benefits it provides. It is worth noting that the United States’ electoral system is the only one in the Western Hemisphere that does not have a unified national electoral registry. As with electoral procedures, there are as many electoral rolls as there are states. In addition, electoral authorities face the challenge of maintaining an up-to-date electoral roll while the methods used for cleansing them vary from state to state. The Mission took note of efforts to mine data from voter registration systems in at least two states. It is also important to note that election administrators took security measures to keep this information safe.

Actions
No reported actions
Oversees voting must comply with specific rules of thei.. Electoral Organization No Reported Actions
Description
Regarding oversees voting, it is estimated that there are approximately six million American citizens living abroad, from which 2.6 million are eligible to vote under the rules of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA). This Act provides the right to vote to active members of the military and their relatives residing outside the United States, which total about 1.2 million voters. The Act also applies to citizens residing outside the United States. It establishes general principles, such as the right to send a ballot no later than 45 days before federal elections; however, as each citizen living abroad also votes in a particular state, they must also comply with the specific rules of their state.

Actions
No reported actions
Select more voting centers to avoid long lines of voter.. Electoral Organization No Reported Actions
Description
Regarding the selection of voting centers, both public and private spaces are utilized; including schools, churches and other common spaces where members of the community can interact. The voting period on Election Day varies between 11 and 15 hours, with polling stations often receiving more voters in the morning and at the time of closing. In this sense, the Mission recommends consideration of the establishment of more polling stations to avoid long lines of voters.

Actions
No reported actions
Implementing proactive strategies to increase the numbe.. Gender No Reported Actions
Description
The Mission has identified several obstacles of institutional, political and cultural nature that help explain the underrepresentation of women in legislatures and that affect competitiveness in the election from a gender perspective. Among the institutional barriers, the U.S. electoral system has some of the features that comparative research suggests tends to favor men, namely a majoritarian system of uninominal districts and the possibility of re-election. The lack of public funding for campaigns may also play a role in having less women running for office. In this context, women’s PACs, such as Emily’s List and Maggie’s List, emerge as a critical strategy for recruiting and funding women candidates for office. Likewise, the lack of conditions for adopting legislation requiring gender equality in politics may negatively impact the number of female political candidates. In other OAS Member States, changes in electoral rules requiring the adoption of gender quotas and parity have led to significant progress in having more women elected to legislatures. With women occupying an average of only 20% of congressional seats, the U.S. is globally ranked ninety-ninth with regard to the percentage of women in its national legislature, which is significantly below the average in the rest of the Americas (27.8%) and in Europe (25.7%). Given the particularities of the U.S. electoral and political system mentioned in this report, the Mission would like to highlight the critical role that political parties can play in the advancement towards a more equal representation of men and women in politics. In this context, the Mission would like to recommend that political parties consider the importance of implementing proactive strategies to increase the number of female political candidates. These strategies could include: female candidate recruitment; support for access to financing and relevant training; and the appointment of more women to party leadership roles in order to make the party organization itself a source of female candidates

Actions
No reported actions
Establishment of independent commissions for the design.. Political and Legal Systems No Reported Actions
Description
In the U.S., individual states are responsible for establishing the boundaries of electoral districts. In various states the Mission observed a partisan design of the electoral districts for the House of Representatives, which impacts the competitiveness of elections. This issue has been the subject of numerous controversies and the biased design of electoral districts, known as gerrymandering, has been a long-standing issue in U.S. electoral processes. For example, in November 2016, after the election was held, a federal court ordered North Carolina to redraw House and Senate districts and to hold special primary and general elections in 2017. Some States have developed a more impartial design of electoral districts that is guided by the convergence of demographic and geographic criteria rather than by political considerations. This practice is found especially in those states that have established independent redistricting commissions to design their electoral districts; for example, the Citizens Redistricting Commission in California and the Legislative Services Agency in Iowa. This practice guarantees clearer standards in the definition of district lines, thus increasing the possibilities for political alternation. In this context, the Mission recognizes the establishment of independent commissions for the design of electoral districts as a better practice and recommends that other states analyze the possibility of having such bodies in charge of this process.

Actions
No reported actions
Proposals to reform the Electoral College system Political and Legal Systems No Reported Actions
Description
The Mission took note of at least three proposals to reform the system. The first proposes to use the mechanism of district election as is currently used in Nebraska and Maine. A second suggests proportional representation in the allocation of electors. The third proposes a "National Popular Vote", and would play within the rules of the current system. In this proposal, voting would continue to take place on a state-by-state basis, but members of the Electoral College, instead of supporting the candidate who won the state - and whom they represent - would elect the candidate who won the largest number of citizens' votes. The initiative has support in certain sectors of both political parties and the backing of ten states, including some of the most populated (California, New York), and the District of Columbia,. It could enter into force when the number of states supporting the proposal is equivalent to the number (270) of electoral votes needed to win the Electoral College.

Actions
No reported actions
Voting Rights Political and Legal Systems No Reported Actions
Description
In 2013, in the Shelby County v. Holder decision, the United States Supreme Court struck down the coverage formula prescribed in Section 4(b) of the VRA as a basis for determining which jurisdictions were subject to the federal preclearance requirements of Section 5. The effect of this decision was to eliminate the requirement that states subject to the coverage formula in Section 4(b) seek federal preclearance for changes to voting rules or practices. The Shelby decision further limited other forms of federal supervision linked to the Section 4(b) coverage formula, including the deployment of election observers by the federal Department of Justice to polling centers in covered jurisdictions. It is important to note that since 2013, several states which were previously subject to the Section preclearance requirement have introduced restrictive voter legislation. Voting rights advocates have challenged some of such legislations in the courts and in some cases they have been struck down. As the Department of Justice is no longer able to block changes to voting rules and practices found to be discriminatory before they take effect, civil rights organizations have been critical of the Shelby County decision and raised their concerns to the OAS/EOM during different meetings. Taking this into consideration, the Mission recommends that the impact of this decision be analyzed with hard data.

Actions
No reported actions
Strength disclosure laws in order to allow for more in.. Political Financing No Reported Actions
Description
Although PACs, super PACs, and unions39 are required by law to disclose expenditures and report their list of donors to the FEC, social welfare nonprofit interest groups40 and trade association organizations must disclose expenditures but not their donors. This exception is due to the fact that social welfare nonprofits and trade associations are regulated by U.S. tax law, which prioritizes taxpayer privacy and therefore does not oblige them to report their list of contributors. Therefore, in the current regulatory framework, anonymous contributions may be used to fund campaigns. With the increased role of super PACs, which can raise unlimited funds, advocate for or against a candidate, spend without limits as long as they don’t coordinate with the candidates or parties, the issue of coordination enforcement is important to revisit. The Mission recommends that disclosure laws be strengthened in order to allow for more information on the sources of outside spending. Addressing this issue would entail actions taken by different government agencies. Furthermore, new and more precise coordination rules that address super PACs in particular would also increase the level of transparency of the financing system as they may potentially minimize back-door influence and collusion of interests.

Actions
No reported actions