MIT Election Data and Science Lab

What MIT Election Data and Science Lab does

MIT Election Data and Science Lab (MEDSL) is a non-partisan academic research lab founded in 2017 at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It applies scientific methods to the study of U.S. election administration and serves election officials, policymakers, academic researchers, journalists, and the general public. Outputs are produced for public benefit rather than commercial sale.

MEDSL's core products include the Elections Performance Index (EPI), a 17-indicator evaluation of election administration across all 50 states and the District of Columbia for election cycles 2008-2024; the Survey of the Performance of American Elections (SPAE), positioned as the only national voter-experience survey of registered voters (the 2024 wave drew roughly 10,200 respondents); a precinct-level election data clearinghouse; the Mapping Election Administration and Election Science project; and the Election Resource Hub, launched in July 2026 as a consolidated gateway to datasets, guides, and research outputs. The lab also convenes the Boston/Cambridge Election Science Working Group and co-hosts the annual ESRA conference.

The lab operates as a grant-funded non-profit, with disclosed funding from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Joyce Foundation, Democracy Fund, and the Election Trust Initiative. All outputs are distributed free of charge through the MEDSL website, a quarterly newsletter, social media, the ESRA conference, and Harvard Dataverse. Its go-to-market motion is community-led and centered on academic engagement, policy briefings, and partnership channels rather than direct sales.

Name

MIT Election Data and Science Lab

Legal name

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Election Data + Science Lab

Website

https://electionlab.mit.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Short description

MIT Election Data and Science Lab (MEDSL) is a non-partisan academic research lab founded in 2017 at MIT that produces data, evaluation tools, and evidence-based research on U.S. election administration for election officials, policymakers, and academic researchers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Election Research and Data Science

NAICS

Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities (922)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Electoral Support & Election Observation (BPADAGAA)

Keywords

• Election research
• Election data analytics
• Election administration research
• Voter behavior surveys
• Academic policy research

Headquarters

HQ city

Cambridge

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Research Grants and Foundation Funding: MEDSL is funded by philanthropic foundations including William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Joyce Foundation, Democracy Fund, and Election Trust Initiative. These provide operational and project-specific funding for research activities.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

MEDSL applies scientific principles to the study and administration of U.S. elections, producing and distributing free, nonpartisan research, datasets, and tools. Its core offerings are the Elections Performance Index (EPI) for cross-state election administration evaluation, the Survey of the Performance of American Elections (SPAE) capturing voter experience, the Election Resource Hub curating research and best practices, the Mapping Election Administration project, and a Data Clearinghouse of precinct-level election returns.

Product overview

MIT Election Data + Science Lab (MEDSL) operates as a research organization offering a portfolio of election science products and services. The core offerings include the Elections Performance Index (EPI) for evaluating election administration across all 50 states, the Survey of the Performance of American Elections (SPAE) for voter experience data, and the Election Resource Hub for accessing election administration research. These are complemented by the Mapping Election Administration and Election Science Project with commissioned white papers, a data clearinghouse with precinct-level election returns, and collaborative initiatives like the Stanford-MIT Elections Performance Central. The lab also hosts the Boston/Cambridge Election Science Working Group and maintains an Election Science Syllabi Database for educational purposes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Elections Performance Index (EPI) The premier assessment tool to evaluate election administration across the United States, allowing viewers to compare election administration policy and performance across states and from one election cycle to the next. Based on U.S. presidential and mid-term elections from 2008–2024 and built on 17 key indicators.
• Survey of the Performance of American Elections (SPAE) The only national survey of registered voters focused on understanding the voting process from the perspective of the voter. Provides data and insights on how voters experience the election process, conducted with 200 observations per state plus DC.
• Election Resource Hub A free public repository connecting researchers, policymakers, and election officials to evidence-based policy and practice recommendations on seven key election administration topics: Building Voter Trust, Voting in Person, Voting by Mail, Voter Registration Accuracy and Security, Poll Worker and Election Official Recruitment, Usability and Accessibility, and Audits and Validating Election Results.
• Mapping Election Administration and Election Science Project An assessment of the current state of knowledge and practice in seven key areas of election administration, commissioning seven white papers from experienced scholars covering voting in person, voting by mail, voter registration accuracy and security, poll worker recruitment, usability and accessibility, audits, and building voter trust.
• Data Clearinghouse and Research Tools A clearinghouse for datasets that fuel studies on elections and how they are conducted. Provides a portal for election data and research tools produced by MEDSL and others, including precinct-level election returns, voter registration data, and SPAE datasets.
• Precinct-Level Election Data Nationwide dataset of precinct returns collected, cleaned, and validated by MEDSL, used for informing redistricting processes, analyzing strategic/racial voting patterns, and supporting election science research.
• White Papers on Election Administration Seven white papers commissioned from experienced scholars mapping out the state of the field in key areas of election administration, important empirical claims about consensus on best practices, and critical needs for research.
• Stanford-MIT Elections Performance Central (EPC) A joint Stanford-MIT initiative that tracks early and mail ballots, voter registration data, and provides state-by-state performance updates during elections.

Quantifiable outcome

• 178 news articles published on the MIT Election Lab news section
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered content contributor, affiliate institution and core partner.

• University of California San Diego - Center for Transparent and Trusted Elections (CTTE)content contributorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 July 2026Partner in developing the Election Resource Hub's Building Voter Trust guide, providing research on trust in elections
• Auburn University - Graduate Program in Election Administrationaffiliate institutionStrategic or Co-development PartnerAffiliate institution partnership for graduate education in election administration through their Social Science program
• Brigham Young University - Center for the Study of Elections and Democracyaffiliate institutionStrategic or Co-development PartnerAffiliate institution partnership for election and democracy research in Social Science
• Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Projectcore partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-located research partnership on voting technology, including shared events like the Election Audit Summit. MEDSL is an activity of this project.
• University of Connecticut - Center for Voting Technology Research (VoTeR Center)affiliate institutionStrategic or Co-development PartnerAffiliate institution partnership for voting technology research
• University of Florida - United States Election Projectaffiliate institutionStrategic or Co-development PartnerAffiliate institution partnership for election research in Social Science
• Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Projectcore partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint initiative between Stanford and MIT to make elections safe and healthy, working with social media platforms, election officials, academics, and campaigns
• Engineering for Democracy Institute (University of Rhode Island)content contributorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner developing the Voting in Person election guide for the Resource Hub, led by Dr. Gretchen Macht

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project: The Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project is a joint research initiative on voting technology and election administration, and MEDSL is described as an activity of this project. They share faculty, events (e.g., the Election Audit Summit), and a research agenda on U.S. election integrity, making them the closest comparable peer.
• Brennan Center for Justice: The Brennan Center's Election Reform Program produces empirical research and policy analysis on U.S. election administration, voting access, and election security, serving the same policymaker, official, and journalist audiences as MEDSL.
• Bipartisan Policy Center: BPC's Elections Project delivers data-driven, bipartisan analysis and recommendations on election administration reform, targeting the same federal, state, and local official audience as MEDSL with overlapping methodology and policy framing.
• Verified Voting Foundation: Verified Voting conducts research and publishes data on U.S. voting equipment, election auditing, and post-election verification. It overlaps directly with MEDSL's audit and validating election results workstream within the Election Resource Hub.
• Center for Democracy and Technology: CDT's Election Security & Privacy project produces research and policy work on voting technology, election infrastructure, and voter privacy, addressing many of the same topics in MEDSL's Resource Hub (audits, accessibility, voter trust).
• University of Florida - United States Election Project: A listed MEDSL affiliate institution, the U.S. Election Project maintains nationwide voter turnout and election administration datasets and produces academic research that closely parallels MEDSL's election-data clearinghouse function.
• Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project: A joint Stanford-MIT initiative that produces research and guidance on running safe and secure elections, including the Elections Performance Central tracker. It shares MIT affiliation, an academic-policy hybrid model, and many of the same practitioner audiences as MEDSL.

Broad incumbents

• Pew Charitable Trusts: Pew originally launched the Elections Performance Index in 2013 before transferring it to MEDSL in 2017. Pew's Elections team continues to publish independent, data-driven research on U.S. election administration, making it a direct comparator in methodology and audience.
• U.S. Election Assistance Commission: The EAC is the federal agency that administers federal elections, publishes the Election Administration and Voting Survey (EAVS), and serves as the primary data source MEDSL uses and complements. It is a broader incumbent producing official datasets rather than academic analysis.

Others

• National Conference of State Legislatures: NCSL's Elections and Campaign Finance program tracks state-level election laws, administration practices, and reform proposals, serving the same policymaker audience that consumes MEDSL's EPI and Resource Hub outputs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/mitelectionlab
• Facebookfacebook.com/mitelectionlab
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mit-election-data-and-science-lab

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about MIT Election Data and Science Lab