Common Cause to hold Election Day telephone briefings to release voter alert line information

Common Cause to hold Election Day telephone briefings

to release voter alert line information

Nationwide callers will create real time snapshot of

how the election system is faring

Election Day Media briefings scheduled for 10 a.m.,

3 p.m. and 8 p.m. EST

1-800-247-9979

Common Cause will hold three telephone press briefings throughout Election Day to inform reporters, producers and editors about information coming in from voters on our voter alert line, 1-866-MYVOTE1. This is a national, toll-free non-partisan telephone line sponsored by a consortium of groups that voters can use to record a message about their voting experience, locate their polling place or get patched through to local elections officials.

The voter alert line began operating last week and has already received more than 25,000 calls.

Common Cause will brief reporters at 10 a.m., 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Nov. 2, providing aggregate data and anecdotal information that will paint a national and state-by-state snapshot of our election system, which is being used by as many as 15 million new voters.

Common Cause expects to provide the following information during the briefings:

– Numbers of calls per state, as well as the top 50 counties receiving calls. All 50 states will be tracked.

– Percentage of callers able to reach county elections officials.

– Percentage of callers to the voter alert line looking for their polling place

Common Cause will have a team of analysts, including political scientists, at the Constitution Center in Philadelphia, where the voter alert line will be located. The team will be listening to messages left on the phone line, collecting anecdotal information throughout the day on issues such as whether polls opened on time, long lines at precincts, registration problems, mechanical problems and voter identification issues, among others. We will also include information from field volunteers and Common Cause’s 38 state offices, as it becomes available. After the election, Common Cause and the Fels Institute for Government at the University of Pennsylvania will analyze the data and information and produce a series of in-depth reports on our election system at work and how it can be improved.

The phone number for these three “election day monitoring” briefings will be 1-800-247-9979. Ask for the “election day monitoring” call.