Suggested Readings
Here are some materials that provide background to the project.
- Academic papers based on similar research protocols
- Douglas M. Spencer and Zachary Markovits. 2010. Long lines at polling stations? Observations from an election day field study. Election Law Journal 9(1): 3-17.
- Michael C. Herron and Daniel A. Smith. 2016. Precinct resources and voter wait times. Electoral Studies 42 (2016): 249-263.
- Matt A. Barreto, Mara Cohen-Marks, and Nathan D. Woods. 2009. Are all precincts created equal? The prevalence of low-quality precincts in low-income and minority communities. Political Research Quarterly 62(3): 445-458.
- Christopher B. Mann, et al. 2018. Pedagogical value of polling-place observation by students. PS: Political Science & Politics 1-7.
- Robert Stein, et al. 2007. Waiting to vote in the 2016 presidential election: Evidence from a multi-campus study. Paper presented at the 2017 Election Science, Reform, and Administration Conference, Portland, Oregon, July 27-28, 2017.
- Reports
- Presidential Commission on Election Administration, Report (2014). Report of the bipartisan commission appointed by President Obama to address the problem of long lines (and other election administration issues).
- Charles Stewart III, Managing Polling Place Resources (2015). Report written for the general public and election administrators that provides an introduction to queuing theory and a general overview to approaching the problem of balancing resources and the arrival of voters in a systematic fashion.
- Charles Stewart III and Stephen Ansolabehere. 2015. Waiting to Vote. Election Law Journal 14(1): 47-53. Academic version of white paper prepared for the Presidential Commission on Election Administration which summarizes research about long lines at the polls.
- John C. Fortier, et al. 2018. Improving the Voter Experience: Reducing Polling Place Wait Times by Measuring Lines and Managing Polling Place Resources. Report published by the Bipartisan Policy Center that reports the results of a nationwide project in 2016 in which state and local officials kept track of polling-place line lengths during the day.