Attacks from foreign states on US elections in 2016 remained a key concern in the 2020 polls. Added to this were internal attempts to undermine the credibility of the US electoral system, notably coming from the Trump campaign. Nevertheless, US election administration stood firm. This article by Claire DeSoi is published by Elections Blog. Here is an excerpt:

Despite widespread claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent or poorly managed, election administration did not just persevere under unexpected and challenging conditions—it improved.

The 2020 election was an anomaly in many ways, but the Election Performance Index (EPI) shows us that election administration continued to trend in the direction it was already heading: up. While there was more early voting and voting by mail than previous years (a pre-existing trend that 2020 accelerated), overall, more states improved their practices, data, and reporting.

When looking at the index for 2020, we must of course remain mindful of the 2020 election atmosphere and context. In an election year like 2020, though, where administrators and election officials had to adapt quickly to unprecedented challenges, data-driven measures became even more important in finding and telling the story of how elections in the US are managed.

Read the full story here.