About the 2018 LEO Survey
Fielded from May through August 2018, the inaugural Local Election Official (LEO) Survey captured the perspectives of local election officials navigating the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election and preparing for a highly competitive midterm election cycle.
Administered as a collaboration between the Early Voting Information Center (EVIC) at Reed College and Democracy Fund, the 2018 report and accompanying resources established a foundational dataset for understanding the daily realities of American election administration. Drawing from the responses of over 1,000 officials serving jurisdictions that include more than 81 million registered voters, this data marked the beginning of an ongoing effort to elevate LEO voices in national conversations about election reform.
The principal investigators for the project are EVIC Founder and Director Paul Gronke, PhD (Reed College), and EVIC Research Director Paul Manson (Portland State University), alongside Natalie Adona and Sarah Cole of Democracy Fund.
The 2018 LEO Survey was generously supported by Democracy Fund.