Voter Confidence

American Confidence in Electronic Voting and Ballot Counting: A Pre-Election Update

admin — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:19:51 -0700

This study examines the confidence that voters have that their ballot was counted accurately in 2004 and the attitudes of the American public toward electronic voting. As many states and localities move to new—and often electronic—voting systems, understanding public confidence and public attitudes is critical for policy makers. This study includes several key findings:

There has been a decline in confidence among voters from 2005 to 2006 that their vote in 2004 was counted accurately. Part of this decline is likely the result of a prospective concern that their vote in 2006 may not be counted accurately.
African Americans are currently less confident than whites that their votes were counted accurately.
Roughly one-third of respondents did not have an opinion about the potential benefits or liabilities of electronic voting systems. This may represent uncertainty about electronic voting machines, a lack of familiarity with them, or ambivalence about their use.
The public views electronic voting as making voting easier for people with disabilities and making it more accurate to vote.
The public also thinks that electronic voting machines are prone to unintentional failures and agreed that they increase the potential for fraud.

Are Americans Confident Their Ballots Are Counted

admin — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:54:56 -0700

Expanding the large literature which investigates the characteristics of citizen and voter trust in government we analyze the heretofore neglected topic of voter trust in the electoral process. In this paper, we present results from three national surveys in which we asked voters the confidence they have that their vote for president in the 2000 or 2004 election was recorded as intended. We examine voter responses using both descriptive and multivariate analyses to determine the overall level of voter confidence and then analyze the characteristics which influence the likelihood a voter is confident in their ballot being recorded accurately. Our findings show that a significant portion of the U.S. voting population does not possess confidence that their vote will be counted as intended and similar to the literature on trust in government we find political identification significantly impacts a voter’s level of confidence. Contrary to the bulk of findings concerning citizen trust, we find demographic variables such as race and education significantly impact the likelihood an individual is confident their vote will be recorded as intended.

Are Americans Confident Their Ballots Are Counted

admin — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:39:10 -0700

On American Voter Confidence

admin — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:37:59 -0700

SUMMARY:
... Similar to the 2004 situation, during the 2006 campaign season the media ran numerous stories about possible problems voters could encounter on election day. ... We have been examining public confidence in voting technology and ballot counting -- especially electronic voting -- since the fall preceding the 2004 presidential election. ... Thus, the media popularized concerns regarding voter confidence after the 2000 election when Democrats raised concern regarding the accuracy of paper ballots -- not electronic voting technologies. ... In the closing days of the 2006 midterm election, we conducted a national survey to determine if the media and special interest depiction of differences in voting accuracy along racial and political lines correlates with differences in voter confidence. ... But ven if there is additional empirical study of American voters' confidence in the electoral process, we need to engage our theoretically oriented colleagues to help us understand the important normative question we addressed early in this essay, which comes up repeatedly in debates about voter confidence: how much confidence is sufficient to insure the legitimacy of a democratic system? On one extreme, we have assumptions like that quoted above from Senator Clinton's website: that every American voter must be confident that his or her vote is counted. ...