“First systematic evidence says 2016 voting lines were shorter than 2012”

Charles Stewart III for Electionline:

In the midst of an election campaign full of concerns over whether voting machines were being hacked and vigilantes would confront voters in polling places, there is good news about the administration of elections in 2016. The first systematic evidence about the experience of voters in the election reveals that lines waiting to vote were shorter than in 2012.

This evidence is contained in the preliminary results from the Survey of the Performance of American Elections, conducted in the aftermath of the 2016 election. This survey, like the ones before it in 2008 and 2012, asked all in-person voters how long they waited in line to vote. (For those interested, the methodology of the SPAE is discussed at the end of this article.)

Overall, the average in-person voter waited 11 minutes to vote in 2016, compared to 13 minutes in 2012 and 16 minutes in 2008. The biggest improvements came in the states that had the longest lines in 2012. Racial disparities were reduced in 2016, though they still remain in some places, especially in early voting.

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