Thomas M. Holbrook: Are Polls Junk?
- My point in this post is not to sort out which types of polls are more accurate than others, though that might come in a later post. Instead, I'm interested in looking at the average rate of polling error.
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We've seen it over and over again: undertrained poll workers causing problems that lead to voters being disenfranchised.
When poll workers don't know what to do when machines break down, misunderstand state law about voters showing photo ID, or can't explain their state's ballot correctly - or when there simply aren't enough of them - votes are lost.
There's an answer to the problem: you.
We've partnered with Credo Mobile to recruit our non-legal members to be poll workers for Election Day 2008.
Click here to sign up to be a poll worker today!
It's simple and easy: enter your zip code, press join, and you'll be guided through the process. With a full day of your time, you can have a tremendous impact.
Having enough poll workers to handle high turnout on Election Day couldn't be more important - but we're running out of time to recruit the poll workers we need. That's why I'm hoping you will sign up to be a poll worker in this year's election today!
Strengthen our great democracy by becoming a poll worker.
Poll workers are a vital part of a fair, accountable, election in which every voter can cast their ballot and have it counted.
Election Protection is recruiting legal volunteers - but if you don't have a legal background, becoming a poll worker is a fantastic way to help ensure a fair and efficient election. Please consider becoming an official poll worker.
Sincerely,
Jonah Goldman
P.S. Do you have a legal background? Do you want to protect voters, from now through Election Day? Click here to volunteer for Election Protection 2008.
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The proportion of older people in the United States who may face challenges exercising the right to vote is growing. As of 2003, there were almost 36 million individuals aged 65 or older (12 percent of the population), and the majority have at least one chronic health condition. By 2030, those aged 65 and over will grow to more than 20 percent of the population. Disability increases with age, and studies have shown that with every 10 years after reaching the age of 65, the risk of losing mobility doubles.7 In many ways, lack of mobility and other types of impairments can diminish seniors’ ability to vote without some assistance or accommodation. With increased age, seniors will become more limited in their ability to get to polling places by driving, walking, or using public transportation. Once seniors arrive at the polling places, they may face additional challenges, depending on the availability of accessible parking areas, accessibility of polling places, type and complexity of the voting equipment, availability of alternative voting methods (such as absentee voting), and the availability of voting assistance or aids.
Responsibility for holding elections and ensuring voter access primarily rests with state and local governments. Each state sets the requirements for conducting local, state, and federal elections within the state. For example, states regulate such aspects of elections as ballot access, absentee voting requirements, establishment of voting places, provision of election day workers, and counting and certifying the vote. The states, in turn have typically delegated responsibility for administering and funding state election systems to the thousands of local election jurisdictions—more than 10,000 nationwide—creating even more variability among our nation’s election systems.
Although state and local governments are responsible for running elections, Congress has authority to affect the administration of elections. Federal laws have been enacted in several major areas of the voting process, including several that are designed to help ensure that voting is accessible for the elderly and people with disabilities. Most importantly, the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act (VAEHA), enacted in 1984, requires that political subdivisions responsible for conducting elections assure that all polling places for federal elections are accessible to elderly voters and voters with disabilities (with limited exceptions). Any elderly voter or voter with a disability assigned to an inaccessible polling place, upon his or her advance request, must be assigned to an accessible polling place or be provided with an alternative means for casting a ballot on the day of the election.
Take Action. It's time to call for accountability in the machinery of our
electoral system. Please sign the petition in support of VoterAction's call for
Congressional investigations into blatant and destructive commercial fraud in
the electronic voting machine industry.
The Brennan Center filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit challenging the constitutionality of an Indiana law requiring citizens to present photo ID as a condition of voting. In its amicus brief, the Brennan Center argued that impersonation fraud is an extremely unlikely and unsubstantiated occurrence that can be prevented without requiring a photo ID, and that the Indiana law fails to address more common forms of voter fraud. The Center's brief marshalled the best evidence on individual voter fraud and catalogued the practices in other states for preventing voter fraud without resorting to photo ID. On January 4, 2007, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in an opinion authored by Judge Posner, upheld the lower court decision and found that the state law did not unduly burden the right to vote. Plaintiffs were denied a rehearing en banc on April 5, 2007.
On July 2, 2007, Plaintiffs filed a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari, which was granted on September 25, 2007. The Brennan Center and others filed an amicus brief in support of Petitioners on November 13, 2007. Oral argument is scheduled for January 9, 2008.
