Senior Research Associate, Democracy

Jay Lee is a Senior Research Associate with Sightline Institute, primarily working on electoral upgrades across Cascadia.

Jay has a quantitative background in statistics and elections research, and prior to Sightline worked with Reed College’s Elections & Voting Information Center. He is interested in voting system reforms, the over 90,000 local governments in the United States, reproducibility in scientific computing and data science, and causal inference techniques for isolating effects in observational studies. He holds a BA in mathematics from Reed College.

A Texan abroad in Portland, Jay enjoys riding his bike around town, alternating trips to the Oregon Coast and the Cascades, sci-fi and fantasy novels, and tabletop role-playing games.

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Jay's Articles

Idaho Has a Spoiler Problem

Closed primaries exclude voters, encourage divisive behavior, and can subvert the will of Idahoans.

Oct 28, 2024

October 28, 2024

Jay Lee

https://www.sightline.org/profile/al-vanderklipp/

Senior Research Associate, Democracy
Montana’s Plurality Problem

Political gamesmanship and the spoiler effect prevent majority winners in some of the Treasure State’s most impactful elections.

Oct 24, 2024

October 24, 2024

Jay Lee

https://www.sightline.org/profile/al-vanderklipp/

Senior Research Associate, Democracy
Despite Candidate Dropouts, Alaska Elections Are Becoming More Competitive

A dozen candidates removed themselves from 2024’s general election, but voters still have plenty to choose from.

Oct 22, 2024

October 22, 2024

Jay Lee

https://www.sightline.org/profile/jeannette-lee/

Alaska Research Director
A Guide to Alaska’s November 2024 Election

Ranked choice voting for president and other offices, plus deciding on whether to keep open primaries and ranked choice voting.

Sep 30, 2024

September 30, 2024

Jay Lee

https://www.sightline.org/profile/jeannette-lee/

Alaska Research Director
What Oregonians Need to Know About Ranked Choice Voting

Mitigating spoiler candidates and other upsides for Beaver State elections.

Sep 12, 2024

September 12, 2024

Jay Lee

https://www.sightline.org/profile/jay-lee/

Senior Research Associate, Democracy
Mirroring the Nation, Voter Turnout Dropped in Alaska’s 2022 Election

How a democracy data analyst assesses changes in voter turnout.

Sep 3, 2024

September 3, 2024

Jay Lee

https://www.sightline.org/profile/jay-lee/

Senior Research Associate, Democracy
‘Majority Rules’ Brings Election Reform to the Big Screen

The documentary digs into Alaska’s 2022 launch of open primaries and ranked choice voting—and how the changes shook up the status quo.

Jul 18, 2024

July 18, 2024

Jay Lee

https://www.sightline.org/profile/jay-lee/

Senior Research Associate, Democracy
Voter Participation Jumped When Alaska Opened Its Primaries

2022 turnout for every candidate contest reached a decade high.

Jun 3, 2024

June 3, 2024

Jay Lee

https://www.sightline.org/profile/jeannette-lee/

Alaska Research Director
Nonpartisan Open Primaries Let Alaskans Choose Values Over Party

More than half of voters in the 2022 midterm primaries split their tickets between candidates from across the political spectrum.

Apr 3, 2024

April 3, 2024

Jay Lee

https://www.sightline.org/profile/jeannette-lee/

Alaska Research Director
Lawmakers Across the Political Spectrum Should Help More Alaskans Vote

A host of laws to make voting easier would benefit Independent, Republican, and Democratic constituents.

Feb 19, 2024

February 19, 2024

Jay Lee

https://www.sightline.org/profile/jeannette-lee/

Alaska Research Director

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Jay Lee

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