October 16-17, 2025 | WashU, St. Louis, MO

Join us for this two-day in-person research and practitioner conference at WashU on October 16-17, 2025, to discuss research regarding AI and governance and how this applies to U.S. elections. Research topics include how chatbots can be used to engage with voters, how social media influences voters, what the electorate knew (or did not know) about the candidates and issues during recent elections, misinformation in elections, rhetoric about election integrity, and AI strategies for the administration of elections. We will also hear from practitioners during the conferences about their experiences with and needs for AI in recent elections and their intentions for future use of AI in elections.

Conference Information:

Conference organizers: Betsy Sinclair (WashU) and R. Michael Alvarez (Caltech)
Date: October 16-17, 2025
Location: Charles F. Knight Center | WashU, St. Louis, MO

Call for Papers, Posters & Panels:

We are currently accepting participation proposals. 
If you are interested in presenting a paper, poster, or panel, please submit the following to Betsy Sinclair (bsinclai@wustl.edu):

Title of proposed project
Description and/or abstract of proposed project (250 words or less)
Copy of proposed paper

All proposals should be submitted by July 15, 2025 (in addition to filling out the interest form linked below). 
We expect to announce decisions no later than September 1, 2025.

Schedule (tentative):

DAY 1: October 16, 2025

• 8:45am - 9:00am:  Conference Welcome & Introductions
• 9:00am - 10:00am: Morning Keynote
• 10:00am - 10:15am:  Break
• 10:15am - 11:15am:  Election official and stakeholder lightning talks. (Each panelist will have five minutes to discuss the topic.)
• 11:15am - 12:00pm:  Poster Session Presentation 1:  Five minute research presentations from poster session participants. 
• 12:00pm - 1:15pm: Break
• 1:15pm - 2:15pm: Afternoon Keynote
• 2:15pm - 2:30pm: Break
• 2:30pm - 3:15pm: Panel Presentation
• 3:15pm - 3:30pm:  Break
• 3:30pm - 5:15pm: Research presentations
  • 3:30pm - 3:45pm - Talk 1
  • 3:45pm - 4:00pm - Talk 2
  • 4:00pm - 4:15pm - Talk 3
  • 4:15pm - 4:30pm - Talk 4
  • 4:30pm - 4:45pm - Talk 5
  • 4:45pm - 5:15pm - Q&A

DAY 2: October 17, 2025

• 7:45am - 8:30am: Poster Session Presentation 2:  Five minute research presentations from poster session participants
• 8:30am - 8:45am: Break
• 8:45am - 9:45am: Morning Keynote
• 9:45am - 10:00am: Break
• 10:00am - 12:00pm: Research presentations
  • 10:00am - 10:20am - Talk 6
  • 10:20am - 10:40am - Talk 7
  • 10:40am - 11:00am - Talk 8
  • 11:00am - 11:20am - Talk 9
  • 11:20am - 12:00pm - Q&A
• 1:00pm - 2:00pm: Panel Presentation 
• 2:00pm - 2:45pm: Afternoon Keynote
• 2:45pm - 3:00pm: Conference Wrap Up

Please let us know if you're interested in attending and/or participating in the conference via paper, poster, or panel submission by filling out the form linked below:

Interest Form

This conference is intended for academic researchers, election practitioners, students, postdocs, and community stakeholders interested and involved in election administration. This event is also open to members from the WashU community and those from other college and university communities.

If you have questions about the conference, please email Betsy Sinclair at bsinclai@wustl.edu or Caltech's Linde Center for Science, Society and Policy at Caltech at lcssp@hss.caltech.edu.