This UCLA project works to protect voting access ahead of 2026 midterms

This UCLA project works to protect voting access ahead of 2026 midterms

A ballot is pictured. A UCLA research center is working to challenge racial and partisan gerrymandering, voter eligibility and ballot collection issues ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. ((William Gauvin/Daily Bruin staff)

By Vivian Stein

Oct. 31, 2026 8:15 p.m.

A UCLA research center is working to challenge racial and partisan gerrymandering, voter eligibility and ballot collection issues ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

The UCLA Voting Rights Project, housed within the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and affiliated with the UCLA School of Law and the College Division of Social Sciences, was founded in 2018 as a pilot program by Matt Barreto, the VRP’s faculty director, and Chad Dunn, the project’s legal director, to combine legal and political science perspectives on voting rights.

The program began receiving more funding and campus support in 2020, coinciding with a high-profile national election in which voting rights issues faced increased scrutiny amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Barreto said.

“Right now is probably one of the most crucial times for voting rights issues and voting equality,” Barreto...