Brian Schaffner

Brian Schaffner
Born
Brian Frederick Schaffner

April 20, 1975
New Jersey, United States
EducationUniversity of Georgia (B.A., 1997), Indiana University (Ph.D., 2002)
Known forCooperative Congressional Election Study
Scientific career
FieldsPolitical science
InstitutionsUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst (2010-2018), Tufts University (2018-Present)
Thesis House members, legislative activities, and local coverage  (2002)

Brian Frederick Schaffner is an American political scientist. He is the Newhouse Professor of Civic studies at Tufts University and a faculty associate at Harvard University's Institute for Quantitative Social Science. He is also the founding director of the UMass Poll and a co-principal investigator for the Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES), a survey of about 50,000 U.S. voters.[1][2] He has criticized President Donald Trump for citing a 2014 study based on data from the CCES as proof that voter fraud is widespread in the United States. Of this study, Schaffner told CNN that "Of the people who we were sure were non-citizens, we could not find any who actually cast a vote."[3] He has also said that the authors of the study Trump cited, Jesse Richman and David Earnest, used inaccurate methodology to conclude that millions of non-citizens voted in U.S. elections. He told MassLive.com in January 2017 that "I have been very vocal in speaking out about the study, especially because I feel a sense of responsibility".[4]

  1. ^ "Faculty page at Tufts". as.tufts.edu. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  2. ^ Kurtzleben, Danielle (August 24, 2017). "Here's How Many Bernie Sanders Supporters Ultimately Voted For Trump". NPR. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  3. ^ Schleifer, Theodore. "Academic behind voter fraud research said Trump misinterpreted his data". CNN. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  4. ^ Glaun, Dan (January 30, 2017). "UMass Amherst Professor Brian Schaffner says President Trump, others misusing his data to argue voter fraud". masslive.com. Retrieved December 20, 2017.