Reflecting on a Busy Summer Researching Election Laws

By Yoseph Desta
B.S. Political Science Research Honors Track, 2014
Summer Intern at National Conference of State Legislatures

Read about our summer interns on the Out West student blog. Throughout the summer, the Center's interns and Research Assistants will be sending in virtual postcards, snapshots and reports on their summer work.

My summer working at the NCSL was an amazing and enriching experience. For the past ten weeks I worked in the Legislative Management department of the NCSL, where I had the opportunity to work alongside passionate and dedicated policy experts and become immersed in the fascinating world of state politics and election law.

To say that I’ve learned a lot about election law would be an understatement. Take, for instance, my most recent research projects this summer. In the past weeks alone, I was asked to write an article and create a webpage on preregistration of youth voters, create 50-state reports on requirements for poll workers and polling places, and respond to an information request regarding campaign contributions from PACs. These topics, although only a brief glimpse into my research this summer, illustrate just how broad and diverse election laws and research requests regarding these laws can be. Moreover, with 2013 bringing a slew of election law changes at the national level (e.g. the Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act decision) and state level (e.g. North Carolina’s recently passed elections bill), the research that I have conducted with the NCSL Elections Team has been constantly evolving and expanding.

Although the projects and information requests I have performed this summer span the gamut of the election field, what has been a constant during my internship is the day-to-day experience of elections research. At its core, election research boils down to state statutes: specifically, how election practices, policies, and rules are codified into statutory language. The experience of searching for and interpreting election statutes has been tremendously eye opening. Before coming to the NCSL, I thought elections were fairly simple affairs, and that laws regulating elections were simple and fairly similar across states. After pouring over state statutes on a host of election topics this summer, I now know that this could not be farther from the truth. The laws on election procedures are incredibly complex, and often differ considerably from state to state. Most importantly, I’ve come to realize that these laws truly matter, and have important and far-reaching public policy implications.

My work this summer has encouraged me to continue my interest in state politics and elections law. I hope to continue my research into certain election topics and continue to work with the NCSL in the coming year. Many thanks to the NCSL and the Bill Lane Center for the American West for making this great internship possible.

Image: Webpage I wrote for the NCSL on preregistration of youth voters. Click here to go to the page

Read more at the Out West Blog for Summer Interns »