Delivering Democracy:�Vote by Mail in 2020
Tammy Patrick, Democracy Fund
August 27th, 2020
We are here
Election Begins
Wall Street Journal
Wall Street Journal
Wall Street Journal
Stories to �Watch 2020: Litigation & Legal Intervention
8
Stories to �Watch 2020: Security & Confidence in Election Results
9
Stories to �Watch 2020: Accessibility
Stories to �Watch 2020: Misinformation
Stories to �Watch 2020: Misinformation
Voter Registration
It all starts with the voter rolls.�We won’t see the same VR efforts that normally occur in a Presidential Election year due to COVID.
Meet voters where they are
Meet voters where they are
9/22
Cover the stories that impact voter registration (hint, that can be A LOT of them!)
Cover the stories that impact voter registration (hint, that can be A LOT of them!)
Cover the stories that impact voter registration (hint, that can be A LOT of them!)
Policies like preregistration are helpful keeping rolls current.
First-time voters
Democracy Fund | Reporting on Elections | June 17, 2020
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Voter Registration
1 in 4 voters said that they didn't have OVR in their state, but they do.
Half the voters who said that they didn't know, actually have OVR available.
Active Voters/�In-Active Voters
In-person Voting
Stories to �Watch 2020: COVID impacts
Stories to �Watch 2020: COVID impacts on (pollworker) staffing
Stories to �Watch 2020: �COVID impacts on polling locations
�Drive-thru options and curbside voting will be utilized�
Madison, WI
Many jurisdictions still looking for facilities & state laws may dictate what can be used.
Others are more expansive &/or emergency powers are invoked to allow more options.
Or the gym…
Resource Allocation Tools
Cal Tech MIT web.mit.edu/vtp/
The addition of a single check-in station negates the hour long wait at the end of the day.
90 sec
2 stations
7 min wait
120 sec
2 stations
1 hr wait
120 sec
3 stations
5 min wait
What exactly is “voting equipment” to you?
Electronic Pollbook
Ballot on Demand Printer
Ballot Marking Device
Out of Frame: Ballot Tabulator
Denver, CO
Monitoring Election Day�How is this impacted by COVID?
Democracy Fund | Reporting on Elections | June 17, 2020
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Source: Associated Press
Given the CDC restrictions on the numbers of people allowed in a space, observers could slow down voting
Access
Not all states allow cameras when voters are voting, but some will allow filming/pictures before and after voters are present.
Montgomery Co, MD
Requirements
Covering COVID precautions
Encourage healthy voting habits.
Avoid lines—vote early, in early voting.
Know options.
Vote by Mail Update
Stories to �Watch 2020: COVID impacts on voters’ options
Tens of millions of American Voters have their ballots handed to them by their USPS Postal Carrier, not a pollworker.
USPS is NOT raising rates for ballots
We will want to watch to be certain that inspection doesn’t change resulting in more being rejected at Marketing Mail/Standard rates.
“The U.S. Postal Service® recommends that voters mail ballots one week before the due date to account for any unforeseen events or weather issues and to allow for timely receipt and processing by election officials”�
Just because you CAN, �Doesn’t mean you SHOULD
New Reality of Voting by Mail—this isn’t new…
Checklist for voters who vote by mail
Checklist for election administrators
Checklist for USPS®
Checklist for state legislators
Voters can go into any USPS counter and ask that their ballot envelope be hand-cancelled (also referred to as a “round-stamp”).
It WORKS!
We need late trips, OT—especially in the final days
Will be doing additional review:
2) Comparing pilot zip codes to comparable non-pilot cities
Volumes are down, this is common. �BUT we need to know where it is happening to be sure it is for that reason.
Additional capacity adds resiliency in the network. When that is eliminated it restricts options for rerouting/processing the mail.
Timing…
& Transparency
It is only once congressional hearings were conducted that we saw the data behind changes.
Aug 18th
Aug 21st
Messaging to Voters
1852 �Thursday announcement of Tuesday’s Election—one of the earliest examples of reporting in the same week
Results can have multiple reporting channels. Redundancy may matter…
Resources
Sign up for Industry Alerts!
electionline.org
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Daily election news & current information on election administration.
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Vote at Home Institute
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�Election Performance Index�MITElection Data Science Lab
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Center for Technology in Civic Life Ballot Data
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Election Crisis Task Force
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TAMMY PATRICK