Verified Voting Transparency Project: Election Monitoring Checklists

An election is a complex process that begins several weeks before Election Day and is not fully completed until several weeks after. To assure the integrity of the vote, citizens need to participate in observing all phases of the election process.

The "Election Transparency Project" is a set of election monitoring checklists for citizens to use before, during and after the election to assess how open to public verification their local election systems are. "Transparency" is one of six election assessment projects prepared by Verified Voting.org. The other project sets address Election Administration, Election Incidents, State/Local Organizing, Voting Information, and Voting Standards.

To access an index to the entire set of these invaluable election education resources, click here.

To download copies of each of the Transparency monitoring checklists, click on the blue hyperlinked titles below,
and check back for the forthcoming titles.

OBSERVATION GUIDELINES AND QUESTIONNAIRES

We are preparing observation guidelines and questionnaires for six different aspects of the electoral process: you can choose those that best match your schedule and interests.

Some aspects of the electoral process can be easily observed by individuals. Others are more suited to a group effort. Both individuals and organizations are invited to participate. Please see the descriptions below for more information.

If you plan to observe but have not yet signed up, please click here to do so. After you register, we'll automatically send you questionnaires as they become available, and later, the webpage address of the online forms so you can submit your questionnaire results.

After you've registered, just download and print the instructions and questionnaires from this web site as they become available. The instructions and questionnaires will make clear exactly what you need 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 us for entry.

The data you provide will be made publicly available – but not your name or any sensitive information. Data is redacted to prevent disclosure of 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 about what or how to send to us, just send us your question at the same email address. Be sure to tell us exactly what, when and where events occurred so we can properly document your files.

It is important to note that the Election Transparency Project is a non-partisan project designed to improve the electoral process and protect the right to vote. All project volunteers and staff must not disrupt the election process, and must not prevent poll workers or election officials from performing their legal duties. As an observer or volunteer in this project, it's essential that you observe all laws, rules and protocols of observation as required in your state and jurisdiction, and that you are respectful of anyone you encounter in carrying out any part of this project. It is also crucial that you refrain from wearing any buttons, t-shirts, hats or other attire which represent any political or partisan views whatsoever. Appropriate attire is recommended (e.g. business casual).

Additionally, in the course of conducting observation, volunteers may occasionally deal with sensitive personal data, e.g., personally identifiable information of persons who experienced or reported voting problems or irregularities. It is important that every staff member and volunteer adhere to the Election Transparency Project confidentiality statement, found here [see footnote below[1]].

As an observer, you will be asked to indicate when you submit your data that you understand and agree to the Election Transparency Project confidentiality agreement.

1. ELECTION TRANSPARENCY SCORECARD - State / Local Grade your state and/or county’s level of openness and transparency! These questionnaires should be completed now, so that the grades are in before the election begins.

Transparency is an important part of achieving publicly verifiable elections. It’s also necessary for citizen observation, which is a crucial ingredient for free and fair elections. Use these questionnaires to identify obstacles to transparency so that they can be corrected before future elections.

Completing an Election Transparency Scorecard for your state and/or your local voting jurisdiction (county, parish, township) can be done over the course of several days, and can typically be done when your schedule permits, as long as you or someone in your group can make some phone calls to offices during business hours. However, for the project to be most effective, you or someone in your group must complete the Election Transparency Scorecard as soon as possible -- by mid-October at the latest. Participation in the transparency assessment can be undertaken on either an individual or a group basis.

If you enjoy learning 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 everyone who will be observing one of the components listed below to also complete an Election Transparency Scorecard.

2. PRE-ELECTION TESTING QUESTIONNAIRE You can use this questionnaire to collect critical information on the pre-election testing (often referred to as “Logic & 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!

The 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. Our 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 undertaken on either an individual or a group basis.

If you enjoy the technical side of voting-related issues, then observation of Logic & Accuracy testing may be for you! A technical background is helpful, but not necessary.

Also, we encourage everyone who will be documenting this information to also complete the Election Transparency Scorecard - Local version (described above).

Local: http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/downloads/ETScorecardLocal.pdf

State: http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/downloads/ETScorecardState.pdf

3. EARLY VOTING / BALLOT ACCOUNTING QUESTIONNAIRE
This questionnaire will assist you in observing the ballot accounting that takes place in some jurisdictions at the close of early voting sites during each day of early voting. At the time the early voting site closed 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, during the period of early voting. 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, and therefore may be an after-hours commitment. (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 also welcome. It is important to observe on each day of the early voting period.

This type of observation is not generally technical in nature, and is well-suited to a variety of interests.

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 that we have participating throughout the country, the more we will be able to compare and contrast various ways of implementing early voting.

Also, we encourage everyone who will be documenting this information to also complete the Election Transparency Scorecard - Local Version (described above).

4. POLL CLOSING / BALLOT ACCOUNTING QUESTIONNAIRE: [Available soon.]
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, rather than at the end of each day of early voting. The rules for observing this critical function vary from place to place.

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. 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 useful. If you are planning to serve as a pollworker or election judge, you may be ideally positioned to capture the necessary information.

This type of observation is not generally technical in nature, and is well-suited to a variety of interests.

In 2004, this type of observation 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. This is your opportunity to expand this important work into your local area.

Also, we encourage everyone who will be documenting this information to also complete the Election Transparency Scorecard - Local Version (described above).

5. AUDIT OBSERVATION QUESTIONNAIRE: [Available soon.]
Mandatory random manual audits are essential to protecting the vote. These 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. However, there are many unanswered questions about the best ways to implement audits.

If you live in an area that already requires both a voter-verified paper record and routine manual auditing, this is your chance to find out how those important tools are being implemented, and to collect information necessary to formulate best practices for future auditing. And if you live in Kentucky or Pennsylvania, where there is an audit requirement, but not all jurisdictions will have voter-verified paper records to audit, it will be of special interest to learn how audits are conducted.

This observation can be undertaken on either an individual or a group basis.

If you are interested in how the votes are accounted for and checked for accuracy after Election Day, then this is the observation for you!

To find out whether your state requires mandatory manual audits, please visit our http://www.verifiedvoting.org/downloads/ManualAudits-06-06.pdf

Also, we encourage everyone who will be documenting this information to also complete the Election Transparency
- State and/or Local Version (described above).

6. DISABILITY ACCESS QUESTIONNAIRE: [Available soon.]
Verified Voting seeks to promote electoral reforms that will improve the transparency and accuracy of our voting process for all voters, while still preserving individual voters’ privacy and independence at the polls. One of the primary goals of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) was to ensure access to the voting process for persons with disabilities, and much new equipment has been deployed for that purpose.

However, as with transparency, the laws on the books for accessibility do not necessarily tell us how accessible the voting process is in practice. This is particularly true for this November, since for some jurisdictions, this is the first year in which they are using voting equipment which they obtained in order to meet HAVA’s accessibility requirement.

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.

Also, we encourage everyone who will be documenting this information to also complete the Election Transparency Scorecard - 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.

After you submit your observations, we hope that you'll let us know what you found useful, confusing, or missing from the Election Transparency Project observation tools, or help us by making other suggestions for improving citizen oversight of our nation's voting systems. If you register as a volunteer, the web address for an online feedback form will automatically be emailed to you at the close of the project.

On the basis of the data that you gather, Verified Voting will produce one or more reports that will feature recommendations for best practices geared toward increasing both the verifiability and accuracy of our elections.

By directly observing the electoral process, and documenting it alongside hundreds or thousands of other people nationwide, you help lay the foundation for a stronger democracy.

Our goal is to support improvement in the administration of our elections, and to create models for effective citizen observation.

Not signed up yet?

Act now! Don’t wait! Sign up here for the Election Transparency Project and build a stronger democracy!

[1] Verified Voting Foundation Election Transparency Project
Confidentiality Agreement

I am participating in this nonpartisan project to improve the electoral process, protect the right to vote, and ensure that every vote counts as intended by the voter. I understand that many individuals who report voting problems and irregularities might not do so if they were not assured that the information they provide will be kept confidential. I understand that project volunteers and staff are expected to keep personally identifiable information in strictest confidence. I agree not to discuss personally identifiable information of persons reporting a voting problem or irregularity with anyone other than appropriate Verified Voting staff and designated volunteers.