Cumulative Voting Educational Program Exit Poll Report Port Chester, NY Final Report July 20, 2010

David C. Kimbal

l University of Missouri-St. Louis

Martha Kropf

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Note: This report will be revised to reflect any additional surveys received from absentee voters.

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary………………………………..…………………………………………….. ii Introduction………...……………………………………..…………………………………........ 1 Methodology . …..………………...……………………………..………………………………. 2 Findings……………...………………………………………………………………………...… 6 Familiarity with Cumulative Voting………………………………………………………7 Port Chester Voter Education Program…………….……………………………………13 Understanding Voting Instructions………………………………………………………23 Casting Votes…………………………………………………………………………….30 Voting Experience……………………………………………………………………….40 Conclusion……..………………………………….………………………………………….… 44 References……..…...……………………………………..………………………………….......46 Appendix A (Response Rate) ……………………. ……………………………………………. 47 Appendix B (Questionnaires)…………………………………………….…………………….. 53

 

Port

 

Chester

 

Exit

 

Poll

 

Report

 

July

 

20,

 

2010

 

Executive Summary

Purpose In its election for the Board of Trustees on June 15, 2010, the Village of Port Chester, New York used cumulative voting (CV) for the first time. Six seats on the Board of Trustees were up for election. Voters had six votes. Under cumulative voting, voters could “plump” (i.e., give all six votes to one or a small number of candidates) or distribute their votes to up to six different candidates. Voters also had their first opportunity in a New York State election to vote in person early (during the week before Election Day). Turnout in the election was 3,357 voters, including 604 early voters, 2,674 Election Day voters, and 79 absentee voters. Turnout was at least 10% higher than in recent Port Chester municipal elections. This report evaluates the voting experience in the election with an exit poll administered to voters as they left the polling place, or mailed to them if they voted absentee. We received completed surveys from 1,934 voters in the election. Of the remaining voters, 1,036 refused to take the survey and 387 were missed by the interviewers. However, we collected some information on 1,145 of the remaining 1,423 voters who did not answer the survey. Using data from the survey, we answer five primary research questions:

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Whether voters were familiar with cumulative voting before coming to vote.

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Whether voters found the Village’s voter education campaign helpful.

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Whether voters understood the voting instructions.

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Whether voters took full advantage of the cumulative voting system.

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Whether voters were satisfied with the overall voting experience. Methodology

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An effort was made to survey every voter in the Port Chester election immediately after they left the polling place.

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An exit poll was administered to early voters at Village Hall (N=377) and Election Day voters at ten polling places in Port Chester (N=1,541). A mail-in survey was sent to absentee voters (N=16).

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Voter cooperation rates at polling locations (including early voting at Village Hall) ranged from 56% to 74%. The mail-in cooperation rate for absentee voters was 19%.

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Questionnaires were available in English or Spanish.

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