Can states be ranked in electoral integrity? This blog discusses the methods used by the Electoral Integrity Project and presents new evidence that the cross-national estimates it generates display considerable external validity when compared with the results of another independent study, the Varieties of Democracy project based at the University of Gothenburg. In both, well before the 2016 election, it is striking that the US ranks last in the quality of national elections among all Western democracies.
The performance of Indian states in electoral integrity
India, the largest democracy in the world, periodically conducts massive electoral exercises, which are often successful yet several problems have been reported, including electoral violence, lapses in voter registration, unequal access to finance and media. How do Indian states vary in their electoral performance? And what explains these differences?