MIT Election Data and Science Lab (MEDSL) is an election and polling statistics center housed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It claims to apply “scientific principles” to the study of how elections are administered in the United States and aims to “improve the democratic experience” for American voters. ¹ In 2017, MEDSL co-sponsored the first Election Science, Reform, and Administration (ESRA) conference. ^{2 3}

MEDSL’s research areas tend to favor a left-leaning narrative of election policy, focusing on subjects such as “mail-in balloting,” “same-day registration,” and “redistricting.” ⁴

Background

MIT Election Data and Science Lab is an election and polling statistics center housed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It claims to apply “scientific principles” to the study of data and key indicators of how elections are administered in the United States. It then aims to use its discoveries to help allied election officials “improve the democratic experience” for American voters. ¹

MEDSL claims it is nonpartisan and says that its methods follow “the highest scientific standards of honesty.” Its research team is staffed by social scientists and students. ¹

Activities

As of 2025, MIT Election Data and Science Lab’s key research included reports on “automatic voter registration,” “post-election audits,” “voting technology,” “same-day registration,” “voting accessibility,” “voting by mail and absentee voting,” “voting from abroad,” and “redistricting.” ⁴

In 2017, MEDSL co-sponsored the first Election Science, Reform, and Administration (ESRA) conference alongside the National Science Foundation and the Democracy Fund. It was hosted 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, and was held at the University Place Hotel and Conference Center in Portland, Oregon. ³

MIT Election Data and Science Lab co-sponsored the 2022 ESRA conference, which was held at the campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. ⁵

Partners

As of 2025, MIT Election Data and Science Lab named over a dozen university-based organizations as affiliates: the Graduate Program in Election Administration at Auburn University, the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young University, the Voting Technology Project at Caltech/MIT, the Center for Voting Technology Research (VoTeR Center) at University of Connecticut, the United States Election Project at University of Florida, the Certificate in Election Administration at University of Minnesota, the Leroy Collins Institute at Florida State University, Election Law @ Moritz at Ohio State University, the Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies (PORES) at University of Pennsylvania, the Elections & Voting Information Center (EVIC) at Reed College, Democracy and Polarization Lab at Stanford University, the Election Law Program at the College of William and Mary, the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the Democratic Innovations Program at Yale University. ¹

Funding

MIT Election Data and Science Lab listed Democracy Fund, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Joyce Foundation as its primary funders as of 2025. ¹

Leadership

MIT Election Data and Science Lab was founded in 2017 by MIT political science professor Charles Stewart III with funding from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Democracy Fund, and the Joyce Foundation to “scientifically” study elections. As of 2025, Stewart was the director of MEDSL. ^{6 1}

At that time, Stewart was teaching as MIT’s Kenan Sahin Distinguished professor of political science and had 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. ⁶

Additionally, Stewart is cited by admirers 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 2020, he partnered with Standard 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. ⁶

As of 2025, Stewart was also the president of Association for Election Science, Reform, and Administration, the governing body of the annual Election Science, Reform, and Administration (ESRA) conference. ²

MEDSL election policy fellow Karen Brinson-Bell also sits on the board of ESRA. ^{1 2}

1. “About.” MIT Election Data and Science Lab. Accessed September 11, 2025. https://electionlab.mit.edu/about.
2. “About.” Election Science, Reform, and Administration Conference. Accessed September 9, 2025. https://esra-conference.org/about.
3. “2017 Conference.” Election Science, Reform, and Administration Conference. Accessed September 11, 2025. https://esra-conference.org/2017-conference.
4. “Research.” MIT Election Data and Science Lab. Accessed September 11, 2025. https://electionlab.mit.edu/research#explainers.
5. “Election Science, Reform, and Administration Conference 2022.” Election Science at Charlotte. Accessed September 10, 2025. https://electionscience.charlotte.edu.
6. “People – Charles Stewart III.” MIT. Accessed September 9, 2025. https://polisci.mit.edu/people/charles-stewart-iii.