Rose Institute of State and Local Government

California’s transition to a universal vote-by-mail system has transformed how elections are administered in the nation’s most populous state. A new report by Keith Maben ‘28 examines how the transition has affected election administration.

The results indicated that following initial delays, counties generally became more efficient the longer they used the new system, suggesting that institutional learning plays a key role in improving ballot-processing speed.

Read more at roseinstitute.cmc.edu

Rose Institute Research Assistant Deborah Aguirre ‘28 recently gained firsthand experience in public advocacy, traveling to Sacramento to speak at a civic rally and meet with legislative staffers. The rally also caught the attention of N+ Univision 19 Sacramento, where Deborah appeared briefly on the broadcast!

On April 24 and 25, CMC’s Summit brought together alumni, faculty, students, parents, and other members of the community to collectively explore how to prepare leaders for the future. Rose Institute Research Assistants Deborah Aguirre ‘28 and Rhiannon Worline ‘28 were on hand to speak with attendees about some of the Rose Institute’s major projects.

On April 24 and 25, three Rose Institute research assistants went to Chicago for the Midwest Political Science Association conference. Professor Andrew Sinclair, Joan Hanson SC’26, and Chad McElroy ’26 presented “Punctuated Equilibrium and Election Administration Policy: State-level Election Oversight in the Trump Era, 2016-2024.” Justin Levitt ’06 and Student Manager Aria Fafat ’27 presented “How Changing from At-Large to Single-Member Districts Affects Electoral Competitiveness: Evidence from California Voting Rights Act Transitions.”