Can citizen election observation increase public confidence in US elections?

Abstract

Nonpartisan citizen election observation plays an important role in promoting the credibility of electoral processes around the world. This article assesses whether nonpartisan observation can shape attitudes among the US public, randomizing information about nonpartisan domestic observers in a series of survey experiments fielded to nearly 10,000 respondents. These included both hypothetical vignettes and information about a real‐world nonpartisan domestic observation mission undertaken by The Carter Center during the 2022 midterm elections in Fulton County, Georgia. The results show that information about positive assessments by nonpartisan observers of the hypothetical and Fulton County elections increased respondents' confidence in electoral results and processes, and also made respondents more likely to identify the officially announced winner over the candidate they favored as the candidate who won. Alternative ways of framing observers were largely inconsequential.