New R Street Scorecard Grades All 50 States on Election Policy

A new analysis finds most states have overall good policies, but that there is room for improvement to ensure fair, speedy, and accurate election results

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the R Street Institute released a new study, “Election Policy 50-State Scorecard,” authored by Chris McIsaac, a resident fellow with R Street’s governance program. The scorecard grades all 50 states individually on election administration on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. 

The results show a strong national foundation, with an average overall score of 4 stars and every state earning at least 3 stars. Four states—Florida, Georgia, Ohio, and Utah—earned a 5-star overall rating. This was driven by strong policies for maintaining accurate voter lists, verifying the identity of voters, and providing a range of convenient and secure options for voting on or before election day.

Mississippi, New Hampshire and Wyoming need the most improvement, each with an overall score of 3 stars. The drivers of these relatively lower scores varied by state. For example, New Hampshire and Mississippi earned low scores in early voting, while Wyoming’s lowest scores were in voter list maintenance. Each of these states earned four or five stars in other categories, proving there are bright spots even in the lowest performing states.

The scoring methodology of this study favors state policies that promote secure and trustworthy elections while limiting the amount of red tape voters must navigate in order to participate in the democratic process.

“American elections are administered by 50 different states following 50 different sets of rules, and this scorecard shows that decentralization is a genuine strength of our system,” McIsaac said. “Many states have built strong policies for maintaining accurate voter rolls, providing access to convenient and secure voting methods in person and by mail, and for counting ballots accurately and transparently. But the results also show real opportunities for improvement—particularly in how some states verify voters’ identities and the timelines for processing mailed ballots.”

Each state’s full, itemized score breakdown—including citations to the specific laws behind it—is available in the study’s collection of individual state fact sheets. 

If you would like to speak to the author of this study, please contact pr@rstreet.org.