In the News

The long lines at the River Oaks Precinct that forced many voters in the Prince William County, Virginia polling place to wait four hours or longer to cast their votes on Election Day in November 2012 will be the subject of a federal study of voter wait times by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Acting on a request from Congressman Gerry Connolly, GAO has confirmed it will conduct a study of voter wait times in at least four jurisdictions around the country, including Prince William County, Virginia. GAO will also look at lengthy voter lines in Los Angeles, Miami-Dade, Florida, and Lee County, Florida.  The study will also include a nationwide survey of local election officials. GAO indicated it will issue a report by the end of September.  

Connolly (D-VA) and Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and Frederica Wilson (D-FL) asked GAO “to conduct a study of the underlying causes that contributed to long lines on Election Day, including evaluating laws that impact voting rights and election administration.”  The three congressmen also asked the GAO to examine two states – Virginia and Florida – as case studies.

Congressman Connolly witnessed first-hand the long lines of voters waiting to vote in November 2012 at Potomac Middle School, the polling place for the predominantly-minority River Oaks Precinct in Prince William County’s Woodbridge Magisterial District. Connolly spent several hours during the afternoon of Election Day 2012 at the polling place talking with voters, many of whom were forced to wait in line outside in cold, windy weather.  

That experience prompted Connolly to introduce legislation, the Fair, Accurate, Secure and Timely (FAST) Voting Act, to provide incentives to states to enact early voting laws and to make voting faster and more accessible to all voters.  Connolly introduced the legislation just over a week after an Election Day that saw extraordinarily long lines and other voting issues in more than a dozen states, including Virginia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Ohio, Wisconsin, South Carolina, and Arizona.  Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) has introduced a companion bill in the Senate.

In an effort to obtain more information about why the long lines occurred at the precinct, in January 2013, Connolly and Cummings also held a special congressional hearing before a standing-room audience in Woodbridge where they heard testimony from local election officials, poll workers, and voters who faced the long lines at Potomac Middle School.

In requesting the GAO study, Connolly and his two colleagues asked the government watchdog agency to investigate and determine answers the following questions:

•To what extent did local election jurisdictions encounter long voter waiting times during the 2012 general election, and what information did they collect on voter waiting times?

•What do state and local election officials and available research identify as the most significant factors that contributed to extended waiting times?

•What successful actions have federal, state, and local governments taken to reduce waiting times, and what do they and other stakeholders identify as the most beneficial practices to achieve this goal?

“Long lines at polling places discourage voters from exercising their constitutional right to vote,” Connolly said, citing a study that showed more than 200,000 Florida votes decided not to vote because lines were too long.  “We can do better.  This GAO study should give us additional facts on why some voters faced extended wait times at polls and how we can ensure in the future that all Americans have the ability to make their voices heard in the voting booth.”

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Copy of Letter from GAO Agreeing to Study Long Voting Lines in 2012 General Election:

The Honorable Gerald E. Connolly

Ranking Member

Subcommittee on Government Operations

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

House of Representatives

Subject: Voting Location Wait Times

Dear Congressman Connolly:

This letter confirms our commitment to study the extent of voter wait times in the November

2012 general election, the factors that may affect such wait times, and the practices that may be

used to help minimize wait times, on the basis of your letter to the Comptroller General. As

discussed with your staff on December 11, 2013, we will complete our work and issue a product

to you in electronic format by September 30, 2014. The first enclosure sets forth the key aspects

of the study and enclosure II lists the co-requesters with whom we will be coordinating our work.

We look forward to working with you and your staff on this assignment. 

Sincerely yours,

Rebecca Gambler

Director

Homeland Security and Justice Issues

                                                                                                # # #

LETTER FROM CONNOLLY, CUMMINGS, WILSON REQUESTING GAO STUDY:

The Honorable Gene L. Dodaro

Comptroller General of the United States

U.S. Government Accountability Office

441 G Street, NW

Washington, DC 20548

Dear Mr. Dodaro:

On Election Day 2012, voters across the country were forced to wait in long lines in order to cast their votes.  For example, voters in Virginia waited for as long as four hours to cast their ballots.[1]  One study estimated that in Florida, more than 200,000 voters decided not to vote because the lines were too long.[2]  Similar reports surfaced from Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, and other states across the country.[3]  Long lines were not only a problem in 2012, but also in past presidential elections.[4]

Reports indicate that long poll lines did not affect all voters equally.  Black and Hispanic voters had significantly longer wait times on average than white voters, and voters in urban areas generally faced longer wait times than voters in suburban and rural areas.[5]  Long waiting times place undue hardship on individuals who cannot afford to take time off work, or who are physically unable to endure standing for long periods of time.  As President Obama said in his recent State of the Union address:

When any Americans—no matter where they live or what their party—are denied that right simply because they can’t wait for five, six, seven hours just to cast their ballot, we are betraying our ideals.[6]

For these reasons, we request that GAO conduct a study of the underlying causes contributing to long lines on Election Day, including evaluating laws that impact voting rights and election administration.  This study will help inform both federal and state policymakers about the types of reforms that will most effectively reduce long waiting times and ensure that all Americans obtain equal access to the ballot box.  We also request that GAO examine two states—Virginia and Florida—as case studies in order to conduct more detailed analyses, although you may wish to add others.  Specifically, we request that GAO examine the following questions:

1.To what extent did local election jurisdictions encounter long voter waiting times during the 2012 general election, and what information did they collect on voter waiting times?

2.What do state and local election officials and available research identify as the most significant factors that contributed to extended waiting times?

3.What successful actions have federal, state, and local governments taken to reduce waiting times, and what do they and other stakeholders identify as the most beneficial practices to achieve this goal?

If you have any questions about this request, please contact Claire Coleman or Adam Koshkin at (202) 225-5051.

                                                                        Sincerely,

Elijah E. Cummings                             Gerry Connolly                                    Frederica Wilson          

Member of Congress                           Member of Congress                           Member of Congress