Polling Place Capacity Simulation

This app is a simulation that can give you a good idea of how and when lines may develop at a polling place, what the waiting times could be, and what changes can be made to prevent those lines from occurring. This was one of the apps that was recommended by the Presidential Commission on Election Administration that could help alleviate line issues on election days.

Instructions developed by the Center for Tech and Civic Life

Read and see examples of how it works at CTCL's electiontools.org site

Link and Instructional Videos at the PCEA site

The Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project hosts the apps recommended by the Presidential Commission on Election Administration

Run the Simulation

You can use the entire app here

Download the app in a zip file

Unzip this into a folder on your computer, then double-click on "capacity.htm" to run the app on your own computer without relying on the Internet. Copy the sample files from the zip file to your computer, then load it into Excel or into the app to show how it can be used with multiple polling places

Voting Time Estimator

This calculator estimates the amount of time required to cast a ballot based on data collected from over 500 polling places in 21 states and nearly 12,000 voters. Input the number and types of races and the number of propositions, initiatives, or referendums, along with the type of voting system and this calculator gives a reasonable estimate of the average time required in the voting booth. Your feedback is welcome and appreciated!

Instructions at Center for Tech and Civic Life

Read how it works here

Try the estimator

Run the app

Vote Timer (Designed for Mobile Devices)

Although you can use this on any computer, this voting timer app is designed so it can be used by election administrators and their staff on mobile devices (smartphones) at polling places. This timer allows someone to easily time voters at up to 4 voting booths simultaneously, and it automatically records and averages all the timing data. This app provided much of the data used to create the Voting Time Estimator, and the data collected can help make the Estimator app even more accurate.

NOTE: This app no longer uploads or saves results from a mobile device to a central server. Results on the app must be written down or a screenshot taken in order to save the results from a recording session. Make sure you write down the results while in Record mode, not in Practice mode. You can start, Stop, and Pause the Record mode as often as necessary and the results still accumulate.

If combining results from two or more sessions or devices, the proper formula for the combined average is:
"[(Number of Voters 1" * "Avg Time 1") + ("Number of Voters 2" * "Avg Time 2")]
divided by ("Number of Voters 1" + "Number of Voters 2")
This formula can be extended in the same pattern with as many different sessions as you have to get an accurate combined average.

Instructions at U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence

Read how the Vote Timer and the related election administrator's statistics tool work here

Try the Vote Timer

Try the app on your computer or a mobile device

About the Voting Time Estimator project

Read how you can use this app to help improve the Voting Time Estimator

Contact Mark Pelczarski for additional information E-mail