Voters' Experiences In 2008 And The Future Of Engagement
New research from Public Agenda shows voters are primed for further engagement in civic life, whether they voted for Barack Obama or not. Many observers have worried that the nation's troubled balloting system would turn voters off from participation, in or out of the voting booth, but our new Voter Experience Survey suggests otherwise.
Vast majorities said they had a positive experience at the polls. Public concerns about the system persist, but they're not driven by personal experience. This unique study was done with support from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
Click here to see the full survey results and for media inquiries about this research, or to find a person to interview for a news story about this study, please contact Melissa Feldsher at 212-686-6610, extension 50, or via e-mail at mfeldsher@publicagenda.org.
Tags: 
Dear Mr. Bittle and Mr. Rochkind:
From Thomas L. Jones
DrJones@alum.MIT.edu
Date: January 26, 2009
First, congratulations on your excellent survey of Voter experiences in
the November 4 election. Would you consider providing some information
about voting place lines as a function of voting equipment?
Specifically, what fraction of respondents:
(1) Reported that they had to wait far too long in line, and also:
(2) Voted with hand-marked paper ballots, or
voted with touch-screen machines?
The hypothesis is that hand-marked paper ballots (for able-bodied voters),
often with optical-scan technology, are FAR more resistant to voting place
lines, because of the ease with with election officials can expand capacity
at modest cost, merely by adding voting stations which cost about $200
each. By contrast, adding a DRE machine costs about $3,000 and has roughly
the same throughput capacity.
All the best,
Tom Jones
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