$2M Grant Establishes Election Resilience Lab at UMD
Effort Designed to Improve the Election Process by Supporting Those Who Administer Them
A new University of Maryland lab will work to boost the capacity of election offices to administer these contests crucial to our democracy, thanks to a four-year, $2.3 million grant from the Election Trust Initiative (ETI), a nonprofit that develops and supports strategies to strengthen America’s election administration systems.
The Election Resilience Lab will be part of the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement (CDCE) in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (BSOS).
“Our college’s motto is to ‘be the solution to the world’s great challenges,’ and time and again, the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement has answered that call,” said BSOS Dean Susan M. Rivera. “Every time that elements of our democracy have been called into question, CDCE has been there providing answers, or seeking to find them. The Election Resilience Lab will expand CDCE’s ability to effectively navigate these scenarios, and therefore make an even greater difference for the American public.”
The ETI grant will specifically support CDCE in creating actionable, empirical evidence for those who run elections, and for those who determine election policy; it will also work with election officials to ensure academic research focuses on their immediate needs. ETI is supported by the Klarman Family Foundation, the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
The lab will emphasize election workforce issues, including identifying and addressing the root causes of burnout and turnover in election administration, including poll workers and government officials. It will also support CDCE’s collaboration with a broader network of academic centers studying election science, including the new Center for Trusted and Transparent Elections at the University of California San Diego, which is being launched with a similar grant from ETI this fall.
“A resilient elections workforce is key to ensuring secure and trusted elections in America,” said Ashley Quarcoo, executive director of the Election Trust Initiative. “Election officials are experiencing increased demands, so we’re proud to support the Election Resilience Lab in bringing together researchers and practitioners to tackle these challenges. Their efforts will undoubtedly help strengthen U.S. elections.”
With partners in the Maryland Democracy Initiative, the Election Resilience Lab will also explore collaborations within the University of Maryland, such as the College of Education, Philip Merrill College of Journalism and School of Public Policy.
“Research universities have an obligation to engage deeply with community partners, learn from their lived experiences, co-create new knowledge, and turn insight into impact,” said CDCE Director Michael Hanmer. “This grant empowers our incredible team to fortify the elections workforce and rebuild trust in our electoral system—at a moment when both are urgently needed.”
Alysoun McLaughlin, a widely recognized election administration expert with 25 years of election management and policy experience, will lead the lab’s efforts. McLaughlin served as a nonpartisan local election official in Montgomery County, Md., for more than a decade. She also held management and election policy roles at the District of Columbia Board of Elections, the Pew Center on the States, the National Association of Counties and the National Conference of State Legislatures.
“It has been a tremendous privilege to work with the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement in shaping our vision for an applied research lab,” said McLaughlin. “I am impressed with the dedication across the entire University of Maryland community to supporting the people and processes of our democracy, and am honored to be appointed to the faculty and to serve as director of the new Election Resilience Lab. I look forward to leading research partnerships with election officials, in Maryland and across the country, to build a stronger evidence base to support data-driven decision making in election administration.”
This article by Rachael Grahame originally appeared in Maryland Today. The photo is by Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images.
Published on Tue, Oct 7, 2025 - 9:56AM