Reports & Papers
Voters Divided Over Top Concerns About 2026 Elections
Research Initiatives
2026 Voting Information Trends
Mapping how and where people get information about voting, and their perceptions of voting in the lead up to the 2026 midterm elections.
The Shorenstein Center’s 2026 Voting Information Trends project tracks how the U.S. population gets voting information and understand key topics about voting ahead of the 2026 U.S. elections — including voter registration, polling locations, and other voting mechanics.
Powered by the National Internet Observatory and the CHIP50 survey project, the research combines self-reported survey data with observed online behavior to produce quick-turn reports on the voting information landscape. Methodology for the series can be found by clicking here
Browse our latest reports, and explore the interactive data visualization showing where and how people are finding voting information in the 2026 elections.
Interactive Dashboard
Use the dashboard below to explore where people are finding information about voting in the 2026 midterm elections. Data for the dashboard comes from the National Internet Observatory.
2026 Voting Information Trends Reports
2/3 of Americans Unsure How to Vote By Mail
Reports & Papers
Americans Concerned about Mail-In Vote Counting
Research Collaborators
The Research Team below includes members of the Shorenstein Center and Harvard Kennedy School faculty and staff, as well as collaborators at Northeastern University, Rutgers University, and the University of Rochester. This work is also done in collaboration with the teams at the Ash Center’s Democracy and the Informed Public program, the National Internet Observatory, and the Civic Health and Institutions Project.
Research Team
Matthew Baum
Kalb Professor of Global Communication
David Choffnes
Professor in the Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University
Faculty Affiliate
James Druckman
Martin Anderson Brewer Professor of Political Science, University of Rochester
Research Collaborator
Brian Friedberg
Senior Researcher
Nancy Gibbs
Lombard Director of the Shorenstein Center and Edward R. Murrow Professor of the Practice of Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School
David Lazer
University Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Computer Sciences, Northeastern University
Faculty Affiliate
Laura Manley
Shorenstein Center Executive Director
Katherine Ognyanova
Professor, School of Comunication and Information, Rutgers University
Faculty Affiliate
Ata Uslu
Senior Researcher, 2026 Voting Information Trends
Doctoral Student, Northeastern University
Allison Wan
Senior Data Scientist
Stefan Wojcik
Senior Researcher, 2026 Voting Information Trends
Methods
The Voting Information Trends project uses two data sources to show how Americans encounter voting information about the midterm elections.
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The Civic Health and Institutions Project (CHIP50) survey asks Americans what they know and believe about voting through self-reports.
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The National Internet Observatory (NIO) draws on volunteers who share their web browsing and mobile phone data to show where people see voting information online.
Combined, these two sources tell us what people say they know and believe and we can observe how people actually encounter and use information.
Both data streams let us compare these patterns across age, gender, education and other groups. Read more about the series methodology here.
More Information
Unless otherwise noted, all information contained in the Shorenstein Center’s 2026 Voting Information Trends reports, as well as the interactive dashboard, is free to share and republish, and is licensed under a Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) license.
For press inquiries contact Lindsay Underwood
For general inquiries about this research, contact Laura Manley