Polling Place Quality and Access

Abstract

This chapter reports the findings from a nationwide study of polling places attributes and practices in the 2016 presidential election. We compare these 2016 broad data to the prior research in limited jurisdictions. For 2016, research teams were recruited from colleges and universities located in 26 counties across 17 states. Student teams observed polling location traits and practices. We report findings for three polling place traits: accessibility, quality, and barriers to voting. The findings from our national sample of polling place practices show the quality and performance of election polling practices to be on balance strong. Contrary to earlier research, we found no evidence that accessibility to polling places, their quality and practices varied by race, ethnicity or the socioeconomic makeup of the persons who voted at our sample of polling places. Variation in polling place quality and practices appears to be a function of county and state level factors.