Participation in the administration of elections and perceptions of electoral integrity

Author(s)
Julia Partheymüller, Wolfgang C. Müller, Armin Rabitsch, Michael Lidauer, Paul Grohma
Abstract

In recent years, election administration has become a subject of intensified debates, raising questions of how to organize elections to ensure electoral integrity. One question concerns who should serve as members of polling station boards, administer election day proceedings, and participate in the vote count. Different models co-exist in modern democracies, with some countries – among them Austria – actively involving the political parties in the election administration. Against this background, this paper examines perceptions of electoral integrity among Austrian poll workers and citizens using data from an original survey of poll workers and survey data of the voting population. The results show that poll workers have greater confidence in the election administration than regular voters but are equally or more skeptical regarding other aspects of electoral integrity. Also, their partisan background shapes perceptions of electoral integrity. To conclude, we discuss the benefits and limitations of the ‘party model’ for poll worker recruitment.

Organisation(s)
Department of Government
External organisation(s)
Verein wahlbeobachtung.org
Journal
Electoral Studies
Volume
77
No. of pages
16
ISSN
0261-3794
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2022.102474
Publication date
06-2022
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
506001 General theory of the state, 504007 Empirical social research
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Political Science and International Relations
Portal url
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/participation-in-the-administration-of-elections-and-perceptions-of-electoral-integrity(b8bbdfc5-a0c0-4f2f-ba0e-e68f0320b24f).html