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Democracy Needs Action; Help Make Elections Transparent!!
Verified Voting has developed observation guidelines and questionnaires for six different aspects of the electoral process. Some aspects of the electoral process can be easily observed by individuals; others are better suited to a group effort. Please see the 'Read more' linksi that follow for additional information to help you determine which observation best fits your interest and availability.
For quick access, click on one of the links listed below:
- DISABILITY ACCESS QUESTIONNAIRE
Read more about the questionnaire, or View the "Voting Process Accessibility" questionnaire: Online, as a text file, as a large text Word document, as an audio file, or as a Braille file.
- ELECTION TRANSPARENCY SCORECARD
Read more about the scorecard, or download State or Local version.
- PRE-ELECTION TESTING QUESTIONNAIRE ("Logic and Accuracy" testing)
Read more about this questionnaire or download it.
- EARLY VOTING AND BALLOT ACCOUNTING QUESTIONNAIRE
Read more about the questionnaire or download it.
- POLL CLOSING AND BALLOT ACCOUNTING QUESTIONNAIRE
Read more about the questionnaire, or download it.
Also see the supplement"Securing the Ballots"
- AUDIT OBSERVATION QUESTIONNAIRE
Read more about the questionnaire, or
download the questionnaire for audits organized by Machine or by Precinct
If you plan to observe but have not signed up, please click here to do so. By registering, you'll be sure to receive project updates as soon as they're announced. Later on, you'll also receive a hyperlink to online forms where you can enter the information you gathered.
After you've registered, just download and print the instructions and questionnaires from the web site as they become available. The instructions and questionnaires will let you know what to look for. After observation, you can easily enter your observations and notes into a web-based survey form (we'll send you the links), or send your hard copy questionnaire to Verified Voting for entry. The data you provide will be made publicly available; but we will not disclose personally identifying data (such as name or contact information).
If you take photographs or video, we'd love to have electronic copies of photos, video, and other media documentation. Please send all materials to observer@verifiedvoting.org -- if you have questions, please email them to the same email address. Be sure to say exactly what, when, and where events occurred so we can properly record your files.
If you plan to observe, please click HERE to read the Code of Conduct and Confidentiality Agreement.
QUESTIONNAIRE LINKS AND DESCRIPTIONS
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One of the primary goals of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) was to ensure equal access to the voting process for persons with disabilities. For some jurisdictions, this is the first year in which they are using voting equipment that they obtained in order to meet HAVA's accessibility requirement. Laws on the books for accessibility do not tell us how accessible the voting process is in practice.
You can help determine the extent to which the voting process has been made accessible for persons with disabilities by filling out this questionnaire. In so doing, you'll help identify improvements that need to be made for future elections.
We encourage everyone who will be documenting this information to also complete the Election Transparency Scorecard - Local Version (described above).
ELECTION TRANSPARENCY SCORECARD - State or Local Versionreturn to top
Grade your state or county's level of openness and transparency! Transparency is a critical part of achieving publicly verifiable elections. Transparency is also necessary for citizen observation. Use these questionnaires to identify obstacles to transparency so that they can be removed before future elections.
Completing an Election Transparency Scorecard for your state or your local voting jurisdiction (county, parish, township, etc.) can be done over the course of several days. For the project to be most effective, you or someone in your group must complete the Election Transparency Scorecard as soon as possible! Participation in the transparency assessment can be either an individual or a group effort.
If you would like to learn more about election-related laws in your state and how they are applied locally, the transparency scorecard may be of particular interest to you.
We encourage those who will be observing any aspect of elections to fill in what they can on the Election Transparency Scorecard.
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This questionnaire to designed to facilitate the collection of critical information on the pre-election testing (often referred to as "Logic and Accuracy testing") of the voting machines in your area! Equipment testing occurs well in advance of the election, so call your election department now to find out the date! States with early voting: your pre-election tests are MUCH earlier. Example: some CA counties test October 6.
Laws governing such testing differ widely across election jurisdictions. In some jurisdictions, observers are permitted and even encouraged to ask questions and make comments. In others, only silent observers of the tests are permitted. This questionnaire is adaptable to any of these scenarios. Observing pre-election testing may take only a few hours of time, although the testing (and thus the observation) usually occurs during the business day. This questionnaire has two parts: the first part consists of questions you'll ask by phone before you attend the test, and the second part is for the day of the test. This observation can be completed by either an individual or a group.
If you enjoy the technical side of voting-related issues, then observation of Logic and Accuracy testing may be for you! A technical background is helpful, but not necessary.
Everyone who will be documenting this information is encouraged to fill in what they can on the Election Transparency Scorecard - Local Version (described above).
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This questionnaire will assist you in observing the ballot accounting that takes place in some jurisdictions at the close of early voting sites on each day of early voting. At the time the early voting site closes for the day, poll workers should reconcile the number of votes cast with the number of voters checking in to vote.
This observation will take place prior to Election Day. Approximately 14 states do not offer early voting of any kind; so this project would not apply to you if you live in AL, CT, DE, MA, MD, MI, MS, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, WA. Other states may offer either in-person absentee ballot drop-off, or actual early voting in person. For this project, we're interested in the latter. Note: the rules for observing this critical function vary from place to place. We've written an introduction and instructions to help you - read this document first!
One advantage of participating in observation of ballot accounting is that such observation usually takes place after business hours on early voting days. (Note: some locations stagger hours from one day to the next, to maximize voting participation.) This observation is recommended for groups that can cover several (if not all) early voting sites in a county, parish, or township, but individual observation is still useful. It is important to observe on each day of the early voting period if at all possible.
This type of observation is not generally technical in nature.
Leading citizen groups such as the Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition and the Voting Integrity Alliance of Tampa Bay are working hard to plan and implement early voting observation in parts of Florida. The more people participate throughout the country, the more accurate the assessment will be of various methods of implementing early voting.
Anyone who will be documenting this information should complete whatever portions possible on the Election Transparency Scorecard - Local Version (described above).
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This questionnaire is similar to the early voting questionnaire, except that it involves observing ballot accounting (reconciling the number of voters checking in to vote with the number of votes actually cast) at the time of poll closing on Election Day only. The rules for observing this critical function vary from place to place. We've kept it short and simple.
One advantage of participating in observation of ballot accounting is that such observation takes place after business hours on Election Day, and therefore is a short-term, after-hours commitment. [If you have more time, please also consider using the "Securing the Ballots" Supplement to provide us with additional data about poll-closing procedures.]
This observation is recommended for groups that can cover several (but not necessarily all) polling places in a county, parish, or township. However, observation by an individual at a single polling place is also very helpful. If you will be serving as a pollworker or election judge, you may be ideally positioned to capture the necessary information.
This crucial type of observation is not technical in nature.
In 2004, ballot accounting by a leading citizen group in Florida, the Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition (MDERC), revealed a variety of discrepancies, including that the vote totals of one machine were accidentally uploaded three times into the certified count. MDERC's report, "Get It Right The First Time", was cited by the US Government Accountability Office. Now you have an opportunity to contribute valuable data in your local area.
We encourage everyone who will be documenting this information to assist in completing the Election Transparency Scorecard - Local Version (described above).
AUDIT OBSERVATION QUESTIONNAIRE:
for audits by Machine or by Precinct *return to top
[*Which should I use? Choose the "Machine" version of this questionnaire if you are observing the audit in CO, CT, NM, NY, PA, or WA. Choose the "Precinct" version if you are observing in AK, AZ, CA, HI, IL, KY, MN, NC, WV.]
Mandatory random manual audits are essential to protecting the vote. Audits provide a way to verify that the electronic voting systems (either DRE voting machines or optical scan voting systems) are accurately recording and counting the votes. If you live in an area that already requires both a voter-verified paper record and routine manual auditing, it is important to find out how those tools are being implemented, and to collect information necessary to formulate best practices for future auditing. This observation can be undertaken on either an individual or a group basis.
If you are interested in how the votes are checked for accuracy after Election Day, then this is the observation for you! We're very grateful for the input of Dr. David Wagner on the development of these audit observation questionnaires.
To find out whether your state requires mandatory manual audits, please visit our audits page: http://www.verifiedvoting.org/audits
Please also participate in documenting as much information as possible on the Election Transparency Scorecard - State or Local Version (described above).
REMEMBER: In addition to completed questionnaires, Verified Voting welcomes detailed descriptions of unexpected problems and supporting material such as videotapes, photos, and the like. Electronic copy of multimedia documentation can be sent to observer@verifiedvoting.org.
MAKE AN IMPACT!
By directly observing the electoral process, and documenting it alongside thousands of people nationwide, you will help lay the foundation for a democracy worthy of trust by all of its citizens.
Not signed up yet? Act now! Sign up here to work for transparent, trustworthy elections!
On the basis of the data you gather, Verified Voting will produce recommendations for best practices to help increase both the verifiability and accuracy of our elections.
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