How to Shorten the Wait for Voting

There have been numerous stories in recent days about terribly long lines for early voting, like this one in LA County:

Thousands of Angelenos braved long lines and, in some cases, waited up to four hours to take advantage of early voting this weekend at half a dozen polling stations set up around Los Angeles County.

From West Covina to Culver City, voters woke up before sunrise for a chance to be the first in line to cast their ballots and beat the inevitable crowds ahead of Tuesday’s general election.

We've had the same thing in our suburban Minneapolis city: both Saturday and today the line was an hour and a half long at the polling place where my wife works as an election judge. On the the Monday before the election proper, city officials say that a third of registered voters have already cast their ballots.

People are saying things like, "I have never seen such long lines." This should not be a surprise: only a few polling places are open for early voting compared to election day.

In LA County it's six polling stations for an area with 10 million residents. In our city, there are 22 polling places on election day, but only one for early voting.

In these last several presidential elections there have been many complaints about long lines. In some locales that's because election officials underestimate turnout, or close polling stations or supply an insufficient number of ballots in minority areas to intentionally suppress the vote.

But that's not always the case: in areas like ours people show up at polling places an hour early, then complain about having to stand in line for hours as the huge crush of voters clears. Then, during the middle of the day, the polling places are empty.

One of the biggest problems people experience voting is that don't know where their polling place is: they try to vote at a location near their work, or the polling place they see just down the street from their house. Lots of people show up at a polling station only to find that they're in the wrong place. This wastes a lot of time.

Why are polling places so picky? Ballots are extremely specific: if you go to the wrong polling station, they won't have the ballot for your place of residence. Ballots contain races ranging from president of the United States, US senate, US House, governor, state senate, state house, county, metropolitan regional authorities than span multiple cities and counties, city council, court of appeals, district court, watershed district, park board, school board, county and municipal clerks and even dog catcher. All these different jurisdictions have different boundaries, which means the ballot for the house across the street from you may well have several different set of races on it.

So, how do you minimize the time it takes to vote?

In many locales you can vote absentee without any lines at all. Apply for an absentee ballot before the deadline, then mail it at least a week before election day. If you don't want to use the mail, in many locales you can fill out your absentee ballot and turn it in at an early voting polling station to be tallied immediately without having to wait in line.

In Oregon all voting is done by mail.

Voting by mail has its attractions, but it is vulnerable to fraud, both official and unofficial. Mail-in ballots can be intercepted by third parties, filled in by the wrong people, and altered by unscrupulous election judges who open them (which has happened this election cycle).

If you vote in person, the first and most important thing to do is go to the right polling place. Polling stations aren't permanent. They can change for all sorts of reasons: shifting demographics, security concerns about holding elections in schools, churches that host elections can close or have scheduling conflicts, etc.

Like any bar, restaurant, or movie theater, demand for voting varies during the day. The easiest way to minimize your wait is to vote on election day at your local polling place during an off time. Around here, early morning is always busiest because so many people vote before work. Lines are usually shortest in early afternoon here, but this may vary in areas with different demographics. Taking a late lunch with a stop to vote may be your best bet.

When you vote this year, ask the election judge what their deadest time of the day is, and come in at that time the next time you vote. 

In most places, voting after work is usually less of a wait because most polling stations are open till 8 PM and people get off work at all different times. They arrive at polling stations in a staggered fashion during late afternoon and early evening than in the morning, when everyone shows at once when the polls open.

Going forward, there are many things that should be done to make voting easier.

Employers are supposed to accommodate workers' right to vote, but it never seems to work out. Businesses should be required to allow workers to vote at whatever time works out best for the employee.

Making election day a national holiday would theoretically make things easier, but that seems unlikely. People would try to use the election holiday for some other purpose, like a four-day weekend. Or they'd use it as a day to get chores done, which would mean they'd all try to vote early in the morning to free up time for something else, replicating the problem we currently have.

There are things that we should not do as well. We should not vote on the Internet, or use computers to record votes. With all the computer hacking going on, it's clear that computers cannot be trusted.

If you use a computer to enter your vote, there is no guarantee that it will be counted properly: a paper "audit trail" is meaningless. People need to be able to look at a ballot and count the votes by hand to guarantee an accurate tally is produced.

Republican-controlled states like Wisconsin have placed restrictions on early voting in order to suppress minority and Democratic turnout. Courts have struck down many of these laws, but the patchwork of local differences means all Americans aren't being treated equally under the law.

National standards should be established for voting: minimum numbers should be set for opening hours, weekend hours, days of early voting, polling stations per capita, travel distance, etc. In this new voting rights act states should also be able to exceed these minimums if they wish to make it easier for their citizens to vote.

Historically, the elderly are the most reliable voters: they have a sense of duty and have little else to do with their time. It should be just as easy for voters of all ages and backgrounds to carry out this most basic duty of democracy.