As we head into yet another high-stakes midterm season this fall, attention turns again to the all-too-common question since 2020: “Will the elections be honest and accurate?”
As President of the Election Integrity Network (EIN), which supports citizen-led election integrity coalitions in states across the country, I’m encouraged that real progress is underway in many places even though challenges remain. To help address those challenges, EIN has released the Model Election Laws Handbook — a practical, comprehensive resource designed specifically for state legislators, policymakers, election officials, and citizen advocates working to strengthen election integrity.
Most election reform efforts have treated issues in isolation. Some argue, “just get rid of the voting machines,” while others say, “hand-counting the ballots will solve the problems,” or “just clean the voter rolls.” But elections are not one thing. They are interconnected systems in which voter registration ties to voter roll maintenance, which determines who can vote, which connects to ballot tabulation, and to ensuring results are accurate before certification. All components must work in tandem. When any piece is disregarded or manipulated, the whole system is shaken, and voters rightly view the outcome as untrustworthy.
Reversing decades of damage — driven by activism that prioritized access over integrity — requires more than a single remedy. Since 2020, thousands of grassroots volunteers in every state have worked shoulder to shoulder with election experts, attorneys, data analysts, and seasoned professionals. They have observed polling places, examined election offices, pored over voter data, visited registration addresses (often empty lots or businesses), cross-checked records, studied logic-and-accuracy testing, attended hearings, and more. EIN volunteers have seen and documented systems failures firsthand.
Those insights produced the U.S. Citizens Elections Bill of Rights, published by EIN in January 2025, which outlines ten principles of election integrity. From those principles, volunteers identified necessary tasks and, through national working groups and state coalitions, developed the model laws in the Model Election Laws Handbook.
What’s in the Handbook
Voter roll problems illustrate the need. Duplicates number in the thousands; dead people remain listed by the tens of thousands; registrations link to vacant lots, abandoned properties, P.O. boxes, and commercial addresses. Federal law contributes to this mess, but states can and must do better. The Handbook’s chapter on Voter Registration and Voter Rolls provides a step-by-step statutory framework to produce rolls containing only eligible U.S. citizens. It includes detailed provisions for verifying citizenship and residency, regular list maintenance, removal of ineligible voters, and public access to data for oversight.
Every provision reinforces the others. Voter-roll accuracy requires confirmed citizenship, identity, and residency at registration. Restoring Election Day and precinct-based voting connects to strict chain-of-custody rules for ballots. Reconciliation requirements at the precinct level ensure the number of voters matches ballots issued, with anomalies addressed before certification. Vulnerabilities weaken when good laws are enacted and followed.
How to Use the Model Election Laws Handbook
The Handbook serves as a practical, ready-to-use guide for understanding, advocating, and enacting strong election integrity reforms in any state.
To use it effectively, start by identifying a specific election process or vulnerability in your state — such as voter registration, ID requirements, or ballot security. Locate the corresponding principle in the table of contents or master index. Review the provided model legislative language, organized into standalone or combinable sections. Then choose your approach: adopt a complete model bill for broad reform, select targeted provisions for specific issues, or mix elements from multiple principles for customized solutions.
Customize the text by inserting state-specific details (e.g., titles, officials, or dates), align it with your state’s drafting conventions, and collaborate with legislative counsel or sponsors. You can begin anywhere without following a strict sequence.
Key features include ten core principles — such as citizen-only participation, voter ID, paper ballots with hand-marked or auditable alternatives, transparency in observation and auditing, and accountability through timely certification and post-election reviews — each paired with detailed model legislative language grounded in policy rationale. The handbook offers supporting reference materials like federal and state statutes, court decisions, and reports in the appendices. Built by citizen volunteers, it supports everything from gap analysis of current laws to full legislative packages. It is accessible for first-time volunteers, seasoned advocates, and legislators alike.
The Handbook’s modular “plug-and-play” design means lawmakers do not have to start from scratch. All provisions can be adopted and adapted to fit any state. It will be updated regularly with new resources, court decisions, and state actions, with revisions published quarterly.
“Compiling this Handbook was one of the most meaningful projects of my involvement in the election integrity movement,” said Kathy Harms, Policy Director for the Election Integrity Network.
Now is the time for action. Our republic requires elections that are accessible to every eligible voter yet constructed to protect against error, fraud, and procedural weakness. The strength of American self-government depends on elections worthy of the public’s trust.
This Handbook is more than a policy document. It is the work product of ordinary Americans refusing to accept a broken status quo. It is proof that when citizens roll up our sleeves and work together, we can restore what matters most.
Faith in our elections has taken a hit in recent years. Insecure, massive mail-in voting and ever-more-complex election technology have introduced concerns, making elections sometimes chaotic and vulnerable. The Model Election Laws Handbook is the new gold standard for election integrity, designed to restore the confidence in which elections were once held.
Let’s put it to work, now.
