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POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS Civic Health
Policy Recommendation 7:
States can consider creating bipartisan election advisory groups or committees to improve public education, combat misinformation/disinformation/malinformation and recommend strategies to build voter trust.
The Civic Health Subcommittee approved this recommendation acknowledging that the work to rebuild trust in state administered elections must be bipartisan and must be taken seriously at all levels of government if it is to be successful.
The success of our democracy is incumbent on our citizens having a clear understanding and framework of the facts and issues before them. Right now, voters across our nation are subject to disinformation and smear campaigns from candidates across the aisle. If we want an informed citizenry, we must work together to ensure that the information being disseminated is fair and accurate. Moreover, if we want to gain voter trust we must first lead by example and show that we trust one another. By doing right by our system of governance, we can help ensure we are doing right by our constituents and our country.”
— Sen. Joan Lovely, Massachusetts
According to a November 2021 NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, 58% of Americans trust elections in the country either “a good deal” or “a lot.”1 However, there is considerable variation: approximately 90% of Democrats trust U.S. elections while only 33% of Republicans share that trust.2
State leaders from all major parties hold a crucial role in instilling trust in our state elections systems by firmly defending the results of free and fair elections. In so doing, state leaders will need to combat various forms of dubious information about elections including:3
Misinformation – information that is false, but not created with harmful intent.
Disinformation – information that is deliberately false and created with harmful intent.
Malinformation – information that is based in fact but is being used inappropriately or without proper context to cause harm.
One strategy for breaking down the public’s acceptance of dubious election information is establishing bipartisan election advisory groups that include various stakeholders from the major political parties who are willing to monitor state elections, suggest improvements and educate the public on why they trust their state’s elections systems.
State Examples
The committee studied elections best practices in three other states (Colorado, Florida and Utah), held public hearings on elections administration, sent a questionnaire to 257 election workers and hosted an online survey that collected the opinions of 20,251 Pennsylvanians on the topics of vote by mail and in-person voting.4 This work culminated in a final report proposing eight policy recommendations.
Colorado established a standing Bipartisan Election Advisory Commission consisting of members from the executive and legislative branches, county clerks, party chairs, voting subject matter experts and a representative from the disability community.5 The commission was created to develop and suggest best practices, administrative rules and legislation to the secretary of state.
Additional Resources
The United States Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Agency: Mis, Dis, Malinformation — https://www.cisa.gov/mdm#:~:text=Misinformation%20is%20false%2C%20but%20not,mislead%2C%20 harm%2C%20or%20manipulate.
The United States Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Agency: Tactics of Disinformation — https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/ publications/tactics-of-disinformation_508.pdf
Bipartisan Policy Center: Improving the Voting Experience After 2020 — https://bipartisanpolicy.org/report/voting-experience-2020/
The Council of State Governments State Leader Policy Brief: Increasing Trust in Government — https://web.csg.org/csghealthystates/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2022/05/Healthy-StatesNational-Task-Force-Policy-Brief-Increasing-Public-Trust-in-Government.pdf
