Election Science, Reform and Administration (ESRA) is an annual conference that invites academics, tech developers, and think tank staffers to share papers on challenges that local election offices face. Speakers tend to focus on left-coded topics such as “misinformation” about the election system, how to combat voters’ distrust of election officials, vote-by-mail, racism, gerrymandering, and ranked-choice voting. ¹

The conference is managed by a board of directors called the Association for Election Science, Reform, and Administration. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) political science professor Charles Stewart III was the president of the Association as of 2025. ^{1 2 3}

Background

The Election Science, Reform and Administration conference serves as a forum for academics, tech developers, and think tank staffers to share papers on alleged challenges that local election offices face in the name of “improv[ing] the quality of elections.” Speakers tend to focus on topics such as voters’ confidence in election results, “misinformation,” vote-by-mail, racism, gerrymandering, and ranked-choice voting. ^{1 3}

The conference was first held in 2017, and the organization archives papers from past meetings. ^{4 5}

Activities

The first Election Science, Reform, and Administration conference was organized in 2017 by the Elections and Voting Information Center (formerly the Early Voting Information Center), an organization housed at Reed College, and the Center for Public Service, an organization housed at Portland State University. It was held at the University Place Hotel and Conference Center in Portland, Oregon and was co-sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the Election Data and Science Lab at MIT, and the Democracy Fund. ⁶

In May 2024, the ESRA conference was held at the campus of the University of Southern California (USC) and was hosted by the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy. ⁷

Leadership

The conference is managed by a board of directors called the Association for Election Science, Reform, and Administration. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) political science professor Charles Stewart III was president of the board as of 2025. ^{1 2 3}

Stewart is MIT’s Kenan Sahin Distinguished professor of political science and has taught at the school since 1985. Stewart’s research covers “origins of partisan polarization,” the history of committees, and Senate elections. He has published several books of congressional research including the Measure of American Elections (2014). His research on election performance and polling site operations has received funding from Pew Charitable Trusts, the Democracy Fund, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. ²

Additionally, Stewart is cited by like-minded analysts as an expert on election systems. As of 2025, he was the director of the Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project, a research initiative on election technology and reform. In 2017, he founded the MIT Election Data and Science Lab with funding from the Hewlett Foundation, the Democracy Fund, and the Joyce Foundation to “scientifically” study elections. In 2020, he partnered with Stanford Law School professor Nate Persily to create the Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project. He previously helped Pew Charitable Trusts create Pew’s Elections Performance Index and advised the Presidential Commission on Election Administration. ²

Other directors on the ESRA board as of 2025 included Karen Brinson Bell, Judd Choate, Paul Gronke, Trey Hood, Martha Kropf, Scott McDonnell, Stephen Pettigrew, and Mindy Romero. ¹

1. “About.” Election Science, Reform, and Administration Conference. Accessed September 9, 2025. https://esra-conference.org/about.
2. “People – Charles Stewart III.” MIT. Accessed September 9, 2025. https://polisci.mit.edu/people/charles-stewart-iii.
3. “2025 Conference.” Election Science, Reform, and Administration Conference. Accessed September 9, 2025. https://esra-conference.org/2025-conference/program.
4. “Home.” Election Science, Reform, and Administration Conference. Accessed September 11, 2025. https://esra-conference.org.
5. “Past Conferences.” Election Science, Reform, and Administration Conference. Accessed September 11, 2025. https://esra-conference.org/past-conferences.
6. “2017 Conference.” Election Science, Reform, and Administration Conference. Accessed September 11, 2025. https://esra-conference.org/2017-conference.
7. “USC Schwarzenegger Institute Hosts Election Science, Research, and Administration Conference.” USC Schwarzenegger Institute, May 29, 2024. Accessed September 9, 2025. https://schwarzenegger.usc.edu/institute_in_action/usc-schwarzenegger-institute-hosts-election-science-research-and-administration-conference/.