Polling Place Capacity/Line Optimization Simulator

Import a tab-delimited file from an Excel spreadsheet or a previously-downloaded CSV file. Required column heading is "Precinct". Optional column headings are "County", "Turnout" (in-person, day of voting), "Minutes to Vote", "Check-in Stations", "Voting Stations", "Registration" (number of people expected for same-day registration this day), and "Registration Stations".    Saves a CSV file with the current settings for check-in and voting stations for each precinct.    Help

    Precinct      

Expected voters   Check-in stations  Voting stations  Poll is open to
Expected same-day registration   Registration stations  The suggested number of registration stations assumes that they also serve as check-in stations for these voters. Thus we've decreased the recommended number of regular check-in stations accordingly. If you lower the number of expected same-day registrations, you'll likely need to increase the number of regular check-in stations.   Scanners 

If the red line is above the yellow check-in wait curve, more registration stations may be needed. If it's below the yellow region, more check-in stations for previously-registered voters may be needed.
Try the simulation again with these values.

Avg. Minutes to check in:    Avg. Min. to register:    Avg. Min. to vote:    Avg. Min. to scan:
Arrival pattern: The "composite" pattern gives arrivals close to our measurements from all polling places combined. If you know the general arrival flow for a precinct you may select from one of the alternatives. To see a graph of the arrival pattern used, click "Show simulation settings" below, and check "Show arrival pattern" in those settings.   Early arrivals:% This is the percentage of voters who are already waiting in line when the doors to the polls open in the morning. Their wait time prior to opening time of the polls is not counted.   Cannot check-in:% These are voters who wait in the check-in line, but cannot check in to vote here. They may not be registered, they may not have the required ID, or they may be at the wrong polling place.
Same-day Registration    Scanner Lines    Simulate walk-offs

+ Show simulation settings

Number of repetitions: The simulation is repeated this many times to give you average results. The min and max dotted lines show the range of results in this set of repetitions.
Arrivals follow pattern Arrivals exactly follow the chosen pattern without randomness.    Arrivals random based on pattern These results more closely resemble the flow of an actual election day and give a better idea of the possible wait times.
Show arrival pattern Display the arrival curve on the graph (gray line).    Show arrivals used Show the actual arrivals generated in this simulation run (green).    Show range Show the minimum and maximum waits from this run of the simulation.

+ Edit Precinct Values