Replication Data for: Waiting to Vote in the 2016 Presidential Election: Evidence from a Multi-County Study

This paper is the result of a nationwide study of polling place dynamics in the 2016 presidential election. Research teams, recruited from local colleges and universities and located in 23 election jurisdictions across the U.S., observed and timed voters as they entered the queue at their respective polling places and then voted. We report results about four specific polling place operations and practices: the length of the check-in line; the number of voters leaving the check in line once they have joined it; the time for a voter to check-in to vote (i.e., verify voter’s identification and obtain a ballot); and the time to complete a ballot. Long lines, waiting times, and times to vote are closely related to time of day (mornings are busiest for polling places). We found the recent adoption of photographic voter ID requirements to have a disparate effect on the time to check-in among white and non-white polling places. In majority white polling places scanning a voter’s driver’s license speeds up the check-in process. In majority non-white polling locations the effect of strict voter ID requirements increases time to check-in, albeit modestly. The number of persons leaving the check in line before casting a ballot is significantly greater at majority-minority than majority-white polling locations.