Announcing "The Election Transparency Project"

From the Verified Voting Foundation (it's long!):

According to a recent Zogby poll, 92% of all demographic groups in thecountry support the public's right to observe vote counting and to obtaininformation regarding vote counting. On this issue, the American public isunited: transparency is essential to democracy.

Announcing… the Election Transparency Project!

During this election season, Verified Voting is launching our ElectionTransparency Project – an ongoing non-partisan effort designed to providecitizens with tools to evaluate existing levels of transparency and toengage in observation of, and reporting on, every part of the electoral process, from registration of voters to certification of the results.

With each election season, Verified Voting will add guidelines and observation tools to build usable models for citizen oversight of theentire process. Verified Voting will also encourage observation by the public nationwide until such observation is recognized as a fundamentalingredient in free and fair elections.

Through the Election Transparency Project, Verified Voting will provide guidelines for observing various portions of the electoral process, questionnaires to assist observers in collecting key information, and aweb tool that observers can use to enter the data that they collect. The data gathered by observers during each election cycle will be pooled sothat stakeholders can learn more about how elections are beingadministered in various parts of the country, and make recommendations for how election management can be improved in the future.Verified Voting supports and applauds other efforts for citizen participation in elections, including the ongoing work of the ElectionProtection Coalition and the newly-launched Pollworkers For Democracyprogram. Our Election Transparency Project is designed to complementrather than duplicate those efforts.

We Need You!The success of the Election Transparency Project depends on citizen participation. We are seeking both individuals and organizationsinterested in improving our democracy by collecting information on thevoting process. Please consider signing up yourself, and also forwardingthis information to other individuals and to groups with whom you areaffiliated to request their participation as well. [There will be a sign-uplink at our front page soon, or just email observer@verifiedvoting.orgto sign up.]

Once you have signed up to participate, all you need to do is download orprint the questionnaires from our website as they become available, whichwill make clear exactly what you need to look for. After observation, youwill be able to easily enter the data that you gather into a web-basedsurvey form, or send in your hard copy questionnaire to us for entry. Thedata you provide will be made publicly available – but not your name. Datais redacted to prevent disclosure of personally identifying information(such as name or contact information).The Time is Now!

For this election season, we will be focusing on several components of theelection process that occur either before or after actual Election Daypolling place hours. That means some observation will take place inSeptember and October, so sign up now!Actual observation will often take only a few hours of your time, withsome observation opportunities taking place during the business day andothers in the evening; some on Election Day and others before and after. After observing, you will need to devote a little more time to submitting your data and notes.

We are preparing observation guidelines and questionnaires for fivedifferent aspects of the electoral process: you can choose those that bestsuit your schedule and interests. Some aspects of the election process canbe easily observed by individuals. Others are more suited for a groupeffort. Please see the descriptions below for more information.If you are a member of an organization that might be interested in thisproject, please consider talking to your organization about thepossibility of signing on as a group. However, both individuals andorganizations are invited and encouraged to participate.

Choose What Interests You Most!For this year, the Election Transparency Project begins with a fewimportant components:

1) Pre-election transparency assessment: This questionnaire will assistyou in collecting information on the extent to which the elections in yourjurisdiction are, or are not, observable by the public. The informationthat you collect on the laws, rules, and written procedures governingtransparency in your area will then be compared against how many of thosewritten rules are implemented in practice. This is your chance to “grade”your state, county, parish or township’s level of election transparency.Completing a pre-election transparency assessment for your area can bedone over the course of several days, and can generally be undertaken when your schedule permits (as long as you or someone in your group can make some phone calls to offices during business hours). However, in order to be most effective, the pre-election transparency assessment will need to be completed as soon as possible, and well in advance of the election. Participation in the transparency assessment can be undertaken on either an individual or a group basis.We encourage everyone who will be observing one of the components listed below to also complete a pre-election transparency assessment.

2) Pre-election testing of the voting equipment (often known as “Logic & Accuracy” testing): The laws governing such testing differ widely acrosselection jurisdictions. In some jurisdictions, observers are permitted andeven 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) usuallyoccurs during the business day. This observation can be undertaken oneither an individual or a group basis.

3) Ballot Accounting: reconciling the number of votes cast with the number of voters signing in at the precinct. This reconciliation takes place at the time of poll closing. The rules for observing this critical functionvary from place to place. One advantage of participating in observation ofballot accounting is that such observation takes place after businesshours on Election Day, and therefore is a short-term, after-hourscommitment. This observation is recommended for groups that can coverseveral (but not all) precincts in a county, parish, or township. However,observation by an individual at a single precinct is also useful.In 2004, this type of observation by a leading citizen group in Florida,the Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition (MDERC), revealed a variety ofdiscrepancies, including that the vote totals of one machine were accidentally uploaded three times into the certified count. MDERC’sreport, “Get It Right the First Time,” was cited by the United StatesGovernment Accountability Office. This is your opportunity to expand thisimportant work into your local area.4) Early Voting: Early voting observation is similar in nature to ballotaccounting observation, except that it takes place at early votinglocations (in jurisdictions where they exist) at the close of each day ofearly voting.

This observation is recommended for groups that can coverseveral (if not all) early voting sites in a county, parish, or township,but individual observation is also welcome. Two leading citizen groups, the Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition andthe Voting Integrity Alliance of Tampa Bay, are working hard to plan andimplement early voting observation in parts of Florida. The more people that we have participating throughout the country, the more we will beable to compare and contrast various ways of implementing early voting. This observation will take place prior to Election Day, during the periodof early voting. (Approximately 14 states do not offer early voting – sothis 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.)5) Auditing: Mandatory manual audits in randomly selected precincts are essential to protecting the vote. These audits verify that the electronicvoting 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 paperrecord and routine manual auditing, this is your chance to find out howthose important tools are being implemented, and to collect informationnecessary to formulate best practices for future auditing. Thisobservation can be undertaken on either an individual or a group basis.To find out whether your state requires mandatory manual audits ofvoter-verified paper records, please visit our audits page: http://www.verifiedvoting.org/audits

In addition to completed questionnaires, Verified Voting welcomes detailed descriptions of unexpected problems and supporting material such as videotapes, photos, and the like.Make an Impact!On the basis of the data gathered, Verified Voting will produce one ormore reports that will feature recommendations for best practices that aregeared toward increasing both the verifiability and accuracy of ourelections. By collecting information via observation and submitting itinto a nationwide data pool, you will be laying the foundation for astronger democracy.Our goal is not only to support improvement in the administration of ourelections, but also to create models for effective citizen observation.You will be able to download a feedback survey so that you can let us know what you found useful, confusing, or missing from the ElectionTransparency Project observation tools, or make other suggestions forimproving citizen oversight of America’s voting systems.Finally, Verified Voting will produce election transparency scorecards foras many jurisdictions as possible. This data will help identify areas inwhich transparency is lacking. Those areas will then become the focus ofour efforts in preparation for future elections.Remember: much of this observation will begin in a matter of days! Don’twait… sign up now by e-mailing observer@verifiedvoting.org or by callingthe Verified Voting office at 415-487-2255. Forward this message to otherindividuals and groups that you think might be interested. Democracy needs you. The time to act is now!

###This newsletter online: http://verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?id=6386

Verified Voting Foundation