[EL] time at the polling booth

Wed Jul 8 08:00:56 PDT 2020

Rick,

Although a bit outdated (2008), my study with Zach Markovits
<http://dougspencer.org/research/long_lines_berkeley_study.pdf> found that
voters took about 3-5 minutes to vote: min = 28 seconds, max = 19.5 min.
There was some variation by voting technology: paper ballots avg = 3 min
compared to DRE avg = 4.5 min. Important note: we did some pre-testing with
students by presenting them with ballots of different lengths and the
results were very reliable (in case you want some back of the envelope
estimates for yourself). Our ultimate findings are almost identical to what
the larger Stein et al. study found in 2016. Compare this figure with Fig
1C of their paper.

[image: image.png]

By way of some context, the average time to check in was 2 minutes and the
average time to transition from the check-in table to the voting booth was
30 seconds, though about 10% of voters had to wait 5+ min for a voting
booth to open *after* checking in.

Best,
Doug

[image: email_signature.png]

On Wed, Jul 8, 2020 at 8:26 AM Pildes, Rick <rick.pildes at nyu.edu> wrote:

> Thanks to all for these terrific leads and references.  Much appreciated --
>
>
>
> Best,
>
> Rick
>
>
>
> Richard H. Pildes
>
> Sudler Family Professor of Constitutional Law
>
> NYU School of Law
>
> 40 Washington Square So.
>
> NYC, NY 10014
>
> 212 998-6377
>
>
>
> *From:* Barry Burden [mailto:bcburden at wisc.edu]
> *Sent:* Wednesday, July 8, 2020 10:21 AM
> *To:* Douglas, Joshua A. <joshuadouglas at uky.edu>; Pildes, Rick <
> rick.pildes at nyu.edu>; Election Law Listserv <law-election at uci.edu>
> *Subject:* Re: time at the polling booth
>
>
>
> This just-published observational study by Bob Stein and a cast of 1,000s
> found that the time actually spent voting in the 2016 presidential election
> averaged 3-4 minutes:
> https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1065912919832374
> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__journals.sagepub.com_doi_abs_10.1177_1065912919832374&d=DwMF-g&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=v3oz9bpMizgP1T8KwLv3YT-_iypxaOkdtbkRAclgHRk&m=nBfys9QAjRsBVd9l9ffH0BtdNaNUJG_lc-JQuWLyNrw&s=KENy_e3uiHpiy7RWiXG82VBQP-bBFxWuTPIttS7Hqqw&e=>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Barry C. Burden
>
> Professor, Department of Political Science
>
> Director, Elections Research Center (elections.wisc.edu)
>
> University of Wisconsin-Madison
>
> Twitter: @bcburden
>
> Web: faculty.polisci.wisc.edu/bcburden
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> *From:* Law-election <law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu> on
> behalf of Douglas, Joshua A. <joshuadouglas at uky.edu>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, July 8, 2020 8:06 AM
> *To:* Pildes, Rick <rick.pildes at nyu.edu>; Election Law Listserv <
> law-election at uci.edu>
> *Subject:* Re: [EL] time at the polling booth
>
>
>
> Rick,
>
>
>
> This is not entirely responsive, but at least one
> state--Tennessee--actually mandates how long a voter may spend casting a
> ballot. Here is a description from my article *State Judges and the Right
> to Vote*:
>
>
>
> a Tennessee appellate court broadly interpreted a Tennessee
>
> statute regulating how much time a voter may spend in the voting booth so
> as
>
> to effectuate an individual’s constitutional right to vote.176 The statute
> at issue
>
> limited a voter to five minutes in the voting booth if other voters were
> waiting
>
> and otherwise to a maximum of ten minutes.177 The evidence showed that,
>
> because of a lengthy ballot and some precincts using new machines, there
>
> were long lines on Election Day.178 Almost half of all voters took longer
> than
>
> five minutes to vote, while five percent took longer than ten minutes.179
> The court rejected the losing candidate’s argument that this evidence
> demonstrated that illegal votes tainted the election, noting that the
> voters’ failure to comply with the time limit was not a “serious” violation
> of the statute.180 Quoting theTennessee Supreme Court, the court explained,
> “[T]echnical non-conformity with election statutes will not necessarily
> void an election, as ‘such strictness would lead to defeat rather than
> uphold, popular election, and can not be maintained.’”181
>
>
>
> The underlying case is Stuart v. Anderson Cty. Election Comm’n, 300 S.W.3d
> 683, 690 (Tenn. Ct. App.2009).
>
>
>
> Josh
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> *From:* Law-election <law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu> on
> behalf of Pildes, Rick <rick.pildes at nyu.edu>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, July 8, 2020 8:00 AM
> *To:* Election Law Listserv <law-election at uci.edu>
> *Subject:* [EL] time at the polling booth
>
>
>
> *CAUTION:** External Sender*
>
>
>
> Does anyone know of data about how much time voters typically spend
> casting their ballots *in the actual polling booth*?  I’m sure this
> varies depending on how many races/issues are on the ballot, particularly
> in states that have a number of ballot initiatives to vote on in certain
> years.  I’m aware of the good piece by Dan Smith and Michael Herron in
> Electoral Studies, but that’s based on one polling place in a low turnout
> election in NH.
>
>
>
> I assume most voters spend less than five minutes, but I’d appreciate any
> information that might be out there, whether empirical studies or even good
> anecdotal reporting.
>
>
>
> Thanks.
>
>
>
> Best,
>
> Rick
>
>
>
> Richard H. Pildes
>
> Sudler Family Professor of Constitutional Law
>
> NYU School of Law
>
> 40 Washington Square So.
>
> NYC, NY 10014
>
> 212 998-6377
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Law-election mailing list
> Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
> https://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election
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