Uniformity in Election Administration: A 2008 Survey of Swing State County Clerks -- National Edition

• The first question: what voting equipment is used in the county and how many machines per precinct.
  • We looked up the machines used in each county and whether or not they had central or precinct-based count on the website http://verifiedvoting.org, and then compared the information to responses by the county clerks.
  • All the county clerks we spoke with were able to successfully state which types of voting equipment they used and the number of machines per precinct.
  • Insufficient federal guidelines address the issue of voting system uniformity and their allocation.
• Allocation of Poll Booths in each Precinct - Overall, not a single election official surveyed could refer to a specific scientific formula that they use for calculating the number of booths needed. They did make reference to empirical data such as past voter turnout or current voter registration, but they did not specifically say how they use such numbers to determine an effective allocation.
  • Only 16 out of 26 counties surveyed were preparing a written allocation plan of voting machines and booths.
• When will the rough and final draft of their ballot for the presidential election be ready?
  • Dates for when the final ballot would be ready varied by several months across the counties surveyed.
• On-campus polling locations - Of the 26 counties surveyed, 24 have a university, college, community college or junior college in it. Of the 24 with a postsecondary institution, only 15 counties reported that they plan to have a polling location on campus.

• Democracy20SOS20-20National20Edition_10-27_FINAL.pdf: National Report of Survey of County Elections Officials