Mathematicians Invited to Apply for Grants to Improve U.S. Voting Practices

April 25, 2007

Concerns about continuting problems with the U.S. election system have prompted two foundations to seek ways to identify effective solutions and achieve sustained improvement. Mathematicians can play a role in this effect.

The Pew Center on the States and the JEHT Foundation are giving mathematicians, statisticians, and others the chance to put their expertise to work for the nation. They offer $2 million in grants for research to develop new measures diagnosing the health of the U.S. election system and planning grants to develop and evaluate pilot projects that offer solutions to election problems. This effort is part of the Pew Charitable Trusts' Make Voting Work initiative.

The initiative's goal is to foster better and stronger local and national elections, which means attaining the highest standards of voting accuracy, convenience, efficiency, and security. This would involve rigorous mathematical research and real-world experiments that identify policies, practices, and technologies that address the key challenges in untangling America's inefficient voting and election processes and bolstering voter turnout.

In addition to involving mathematicians, election officials, and academics who study elections, the initiative hopes to attract the attention of computer scientists, engineers, private sector companies with applicable expertise, along with non-governmental agencies. All are asked to submit proposals for studies that would develop new diagnostics of the health of the election system, as well as proposals for planning grants to implement pilot projects and to evaluate solutions for the election process in conjunction with election officials.

To see the request for proposals, go to http://www.pewtrusts.org/pdf/MVW-RFP-April-07.pdf.

Source: Pew Center on the States