@article{THESIS,
      recid = {3888},
      author = {Penta, Grace},
      title = {Securing the Ballot and Voters' Trust: County-Level  Responses to 2016 U.S. Election Insecurity in Florida and  New York},
      publisher = {University of Chicago},
      school = {B.A.},
      address = {2021-06},
      number = {THESIS},
      abstract = {This study evaluates county-level responses to decreased  voter confidence in election  security after the 2016 U.S.  presidential election. This study relies on analysis of the  complied  data on annual adopted budgets for county  elections offices in Florida and New York. The voter   turnout per population percentage is then compared to three  potential factors of confidence in  election integrity —  (1) engagement with the community (calculated via compiled  county  elections office Facebook page follower counts),  (2) designated security rate of the voting  machine type  used in the 2020 Presidential election, and (3) each  county’s adopted 2020 election  budget. Semi-structured  interviews with New York county Election Commissioners,  Florida  county Election Supervisors, and voters from each  state helped inform the factors that should be  evaluated  as a part of this study as well as how to address sources  of low confidence in election  security and integrity.  Findings establish that after 2016, most counties in either  state did not  significantly change their outreach methods  to increases public knowledge of the county’s  elections  process aside from occasionally updating social media  outreach. While federal security  support from in both  Florida and New York increase between 2016 and 2020, county  budgets in  New York and Florida increased variably.  Additionally, counties rarely consulted security   assistance outside of what the state provided. As lost  confidence in election integrity continues to  strain  bureaucratic processes and national unity, the gap in  research on how local governance  plays a role in  strengthening public confidence in elections grows even  more critical. The  findings of this study point to the  urgent need to boost support for county-level programs run  out  of election offices to engage with the public.  Findings also highlight the absence of any  significant  financial evaluation of the national cost of elections and  how those funds are used.},
      url = {http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/3888},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.6082/uchicago.3888},
}