Minnesota is known nationally for strong voter turnout, but academics here are showing interest in efforts elsewhere in the country to boost voter confidence in elections.
Local clerks are testing video messages meant to grab the public's attention. The University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs hosted a forum this month to examine nonpartisan messaging campaigns led by election administrators. Experts said widespread voter fraud is rare but distrust is elevated these days, particularly among Republicans.
Thad Kousser, professor of political science at the University of California-San Diego, said it means administrators are taking on new job duties.
"Now they also have to engage in this trust-building program that often makes them seem like a communications professional," Kousser observed.
The panelists cited videos, produced like public service announcements, in states like Arizona and Virginia, showing the behind-the-scenes work that goes into protecting ballots and overseeing a fair vote. Kousser noted 6 of 10 surveys based on the videos and similar efforts showed a gain in trust. And the testing revealed preemptive messaging can shield people from being influenced by false claims of voter fraud as election results come into focus.
State and local election leaders do post-election audits to ensure accuracy. Kousser pointed out explaining how the audits work appears to be a winning strategy.
"People (election administrators) normally post a PDF of a 50-page audit on their website," Kousser explained. "That's not an easy way to communicate it to people. The lesson that that taught us was, voters really want to know about what goes into an audit, rather than just the results that come out of it."
Smaller election offices might not have the budget to make video ads. Kousser added their research has found local media appearances — in print and on radio and TV — are effective, too. In a 2024 study from the World Justice Project, only half of Americans said they trust election officials and 1 in 3 said they were prepared to reject election results from the 2024 presidential race.
