The State of Rhode Island has a proud history of sharing ideas with the rest of the country, and it is no different when it comes to elections. The Engineering for Democracy Institute (EDI) is housed by the University of Rhode Island, the state’s flagship public research and land-grant university. Since 2017, EDI has served as a national leader in implementing engineering strategies and tools for data-driven solutions for election officials nationwide. The EDI’s mission is to support free, fair, and efficient elections for all through the development, distribution, and support of data that improves the democratic process.
After experiencing long lines in the 2016 general election, the Rhode Island Secretary of State turned to URI in 2017, to understand how the application of industrial and systems engineering techniques could be applied towards elections. This was the beginning of EDI, which evolved from the work of Rhode Island Voter OperaTions & Election Systems (URI VOTES).
Engineering for Democracy through the years
