HAVA Seminars

CAMPAIGNS and ELECTIONS

Finding Voter Registration Information on NJ State and County Web Sites: It's a Challenge!
	This paper details how easy – or hard – it is to find information about registering to vote and to access a registration form on New Jersey county web sites and on the New Jersey state web site. Originally released in October 2006, this version is updated as of February 2007.
TV Coverage about the New Jersey Election in 2005
	This report, published in June 2006, is about a project that analyzed the highest-rated nightly news programs beginning 30 days before the election in 2005. With funding from the Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation, the project worked with the University of Wisconsin News Lab in analyzing the data. This was a project of the New Jersey Project, Eagleton Institute of Politics, conducted by Dr. Matthew Hale, Seton Hall University. Full report here Summary available here
Are Negative Campaigns So Bad?
	An article written by Gerald M. Pomper, Board of Governors Professor of Political Science (Emeritus), Rutgers University, published in The Star-Ledger on Sunday, December 4, 2005.
Implementing the Help America Vote Act (HAVA):
	Next Steps for HAVA Implementation in 2006 Based on 2004 — and What It Means for the New Jersey Election in 2005
	A seminar held on January 6, 2005, as part of the on-going series on Implementing the Help America Vote (HAVA), provided more information on the implementation of voting changes. A brief summary of the seminar is available here, as well as an updated PowerPoint presentation and revised report card for gathering information on the implementation of best practices for voting.
	Can We Alleviate Risk and Improve Public Confidence When Using New DRE Voting Systems?
	The New Jersey Project held a seminar on October 8, 2004, as part of the on-going series on Implementing the Help America Vote (HAVA). A brief summary of the seminar is available here, as well as a PowerPoint presentation and report card designed to gather information on the implementation of best practices for minimizing problems in elections, two items which were discussed at the seminar.
	Making Democracy Work: Issues in Voter Participation
	Ingrid Reed, Director, New Jersey Project, Eagleton Institute of Politics, authored this timely piece, which was presented during a lively roundtable discussion held at the Center for Government Services in March 2004. Reed's paper uses research done by her colleagues at the Eagleton Institute of Politics to present a picture of what is known about voters today and analyses what can be done through initiatives in public policy initiatives and better government practice to address issues that can play a role in encouraging those citizens who don't participate to do so and keep those who do involved in the democratic process.
	The Challenge of Implementing the Help America Vote Act (HAVA)
	In the fall of 2003, the Eagleton Institute of Politics presented a series of three seminars designed to give New Jersey an opportunity to gain perspectives from six states – New Mexico, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia and California – on election reform and implementation of the new federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA). Posted here are a series of key points from the speakers at the seminars.
	Election Reform: March 2003 Testimony before the NJ Senate Committee
	Ingrid Reed, director of the Eagleton NJ Project, in testimony before the NJ Senate State Government Committee Hearing on election reform emphasized need for accountability and transparency in the State's decentralized election administration and cites the new federal law, the Help American Vote Act, as opportunity for NJ to improve its voting system.
New Jersey Election 2002
	Election 2002: How to Help Voters Pick in Election for Senate
	Eagleton's 2002 Recommendations for Better Campaigns and the Eagleton-Alliance for Better Campaigns research on coverage of New Jersey races by NYC network affiliates was featured in a column by Ingrid Reed that ran the week of October 14th in the Home News and Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Times of Trenton.
	2002 Recommendations for Better Campaigns This report includes the list of recommendations made by the Eagleton Institute to help citizens decide whether and how to vote. The recommendations focus on debates and media coverage in the current campaigns for U.S. Senate and Hosue of Representatives.
New Jersey Election 2001
	Election Reform: Report on the 2001 New Jersey Election
	The 2001 New Jersey election is the focus of a new report by Ingrid W. Reed, director of the New Jersey Project. The report was prepared for the Century Foundation to assess the extent to which problems evident in the 2000 Florida elections persisted in 2001. Summary of report Full report Read a review of this report on page 8 of the Fall 2003 Guardian, a newsletter of the Council on Governmental Ethics Law (COGEL).
	Press Release: Do New York TV stations shortchange New Jersey voters? Rutgers' Eagleton Institute of Politics study analyzes Garden State's 2001 election coverage
	The 2002 Senate race in New Jersey between incumbent Robert Torricelli and Republican challenger Douglas Forrester is shaping up as one of the most competitive in the country, with the potential to decide which party will control the U.S. Senate. But how much will voters learn about the candidates and issues by watching news broadcasts on New York television? This is the full press release on this issue and the details of the campaign coverage issued by the Eagleton Institute and the Alliance for Better Campaigns. As reported by Steve Manas in the Rutgers Focus newsletter, February 10, 2003:
	The Need to Advertise the Gubernatorial Debates
	Eagleton's research in the 1997 gubernatorial campaign showed that it was nearly impossible for a voter to find out when the debates were on the air. There was no organized effort to publicize the debates. This proposal was made during the 2001 campaign for a public education campaign to alert New Jersey voters to their opportunity to see and hear the candidates for governor debate.
	Gubernatorial Debate Ad Campaign to Alert Voters
	During the 2001 gubernatorial campaign, Eagleton launched an effort to alert voters. A major grant from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and initial support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Community Foundation of New Jersey, have enabled the New Jersey Project of the Eagleton Institute of Politics to launch the first public education campaign to alert voters to the gubernatorial debates. You can read about the campaign and view the ads at the above link.
	Poll Results on What is Helpful to Voters
	At the beginning of the 2001 gubernatorial campaign, a survey was conducted, in a joint venture between the New Jersey Project and the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling, to ask about the helpfulness to voters of different sources of information about candidates. The results are presented here.
New Jersey Congressional Campaign 1998
	New Jersey Congressional Campaigns in 1998: Not Bad but Not Enough
	The New Jersey Project issued a report of the 1998 congressional campaigns, "Not Bad But Not Enough," by Gerald M. Pomper, Board of Governors Professor of Political Science and Eagleton Institute of Politics faculty member, and Ingrid W. Reed, director of the New Jersey Project. The report is featured in the November 1999 issue of the New Jersey Reporter. Links are provided to a report summary of the findings, as well as the full report.
Eagleton New Jersey Campaign Forum History
	The initial efforts of the Eagleton New Jersey Campaign Forum included a roundtable discussion with key leaders in the state on campaign discourse conducted in February 1997 with key political figures in the state. The Forum agreed that New Jersey could have better campaigns if several key steps were taken. During the subsequent gubernatorial campaign, Eagleton collaborated with the national organization, Free TV for Straight Talk Coalition, to successfully secure time on television outlets in New York and Philadelphia for "issue spot" statements by the candidates, a first in the nation in a statewide race. The New Jersey initiatives serve a prototype for a national effort by a new organization, the Alliance for Better Campaigns. The New Jersey Project has arranged for Institute co-sponsorship of candidate debates in senatorial and gubernatorial campaigns and organized election-related discussions and programs for students, faculty and members of the broader community. Students at Eagleton are invited to participate in a variety of campaign-related activities.