Transcript No Slide Title

Assessing Polling Places
in the St. Louis Area
David Kimball
University of Missouri-St. Louis
April 13, 2005
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2000 Presidential Election
• Controversy over ballot recount in Florida.
• Controversy in St. Louis over voter lists,
poll closing time, and registration fraud.
• Other less publicized incidents
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What’s Happened Since 2000?
• Each state and county has asked “Could
Florida happen here?”
• Federal legislation – the Help America Vote
Act of 2002 (HAVA)
• State legislation and state plans to comply
with HAVA.
• Another competitive presidential election in
2004.
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Why Study Polling Places?
• Election reform policies and research are
beginning to move beyond voting
equipment.
• HAVA includes provisions for improved
voter education and poll worker training.
• Many states and local governments are
consolidating polling places.
• Socio-economic disparity in voter turnout
and unrecorded votes in American
elections.
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Polling Place Conditions
• Very little systematic research available
• Recent studies of polling places in Los
Angeles (Matt Barreto, UC-Irvine) and
other cities.
– Student observers (checklist of items)
– High-quality polling places are associated with
higher voter turnout rates.
– Low-quality polling places tended to be
concentrated in low-income and minority
neighborhoods.
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St. Louis Study (Nov. 2, 2004)
• 12 observers (6 teams)
– Cassandra Butler, Ryan Coleman, Gene
DeSalme, Matt Howard, Matt McLaughlin,
Gretchen Miller, Deme Souchleris, Ben
Sturdevant, Sarah Van Winkle, Rob Vossmeyer,
and Mercedes Wurm.
• 2-page checklist used to record observations
• Observers spent about 15 minutes at each
polling place
• Observations made between 9:00 am and
5:00 pm
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St. Louis Study (continued)
• 95 polling places visited in St. Louis City
and St. Louis County
• 21 polling places visited by more than one
team
• Covered 4 wards in the city (4th, 16th, 17th,
28th)
• Covered all or parts of 7 townships in the
county (Creve Coeur, Clayton, Hadley,
Jefferson, Florissant, Normandy,
University)
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Polling Place Accessibility
Correct address
98%
Visible from the street
Handicap access (entrance)
63% - Yes
27% - Somewhat
86%
Adequate outside lighting
73%
Signs or banners visible
65%
Adequate parking
63%
Address in clear sight
60%
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Polling Place Quality
All voting machines working properly
98%
Sample ballot posted
91%
Well lit for reading
87%
Instructions posted in voting booths
80%
Restroom clearly marked
40%
Chairs in waiting area
33%
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Polling Place Size
Very Large
19%
Somewhat Large
26%
Medium
24%
Somewhat Small
18%
Very Small
12%
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5
10
15
20
25
Voting Booths – St. Louis County
0
500
1000
1500
Ballots cast
booths
Fitted v alues
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2000
2500
12
5
10
15
20
Voting Booths – St. Louis City
0
500
1000
1500
Ballots cast
booths
2000
2500
Fitted v alues
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Polling Place Quality
15
10
5
0
Frequency
20
25
• Overall polling place quality score created
by summing ten items on checklist.
2
4
6
Polling place quality
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10
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Polling Place Quality
• Average polling place quality was very
similar in the city versus the county.
• Of the polling places we visited, average
polling place quality was very similar in
north, south, and central corridors.
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Impact of Polling Place Quality
(preliminary results)
• No correlation between polling place
quality and voter turnout.
• Polling places with a higher ratio of voters
to booths had longer lines.
• Polling places with longer lines tended to
have slightly lower voter turnout.
• Negative but somewhat weak relationship
between polling place quality and
unrecorded votes for president.
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Recommendations
• Continue to improve polling place
conditions.
• Work to equalize number of voting booths
and poll workers based on number of likely
voters in each polling place.
• Work to reduce long lines during morning
and late day rush.
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