Miami Dade Elections Department

1
Broward County Hispanic Precinct Accessibility
Exit PollNovember 7, 2006 Prepared for
Broward County Supervisor of Elections
2
Summary

• Nearly 86 of respondents who voted in Spanish
  reported that they encountered NO problems in
  viewing the Spanish ballot on the Touch-Screen
  Voting Machines.
• 97.3 of all respondents said the Touch-Screen
  Voting Machines were easy to use.
• An overwhelming majority of all respondents
  (92.2) reported that poll workers were either
  Very helpful or Somewhat helpful in their
  overall voting experience.
• Only 24.7 of respondents voted in Spanish.
• However, 71.7 reported that there were no
  visible signs, flags, or banners in Spanish
  outside of their precinct.

3
Methodology

• The survey was conducted on November 7, 2006
  (General Election) from 700 am to 530 pm.
• There were 413 completed surveys.
• Surveys were completed by registered voters who
  identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino as
  they exited each Broward County precinct visited.
• Precincts were chosen based on the number of
  registered Hispanic voters
• 50 Broward precincts with the highest number of
  Hispanic registered voters comprising over
  31,750 registered Hispanic voters.
• A 25-person research team was coordinated to
  request and complete surveys at each precinct.

4
About the Respondents

• The respondent profile was as follows
• Language of Completed Questionnaires
• English 62.7
• Spanish 37.3
• Language Respondents Voted
• English 74.6
• Spanish 24.7

5
Precinct Visibility and Accessibility

• Overall, almost all respondents said their
  polling place was easy to find
• 90.8 said it was either Very Easy or Somewhat
  Easy
• Generally speaking, 83.1 of respondents reported
  there were signs, flags, or banners visible form
  the outside of the polling place.
• However, 71.1 reported that there were NO signs,
  flags, or banners in Spanish visible from the
  outside of the polling place.

6
Precinct Visibility and Accessibility (contd.)

• For the most part, respondents waited no more
  than 10 minutes in line to vote
• 54 waited 1-5 minutes
• 12.3 waited 5-10 minutes
• 70.8 of respondents said they received voting
  information prior to Election day
• 85.6 reported this information was either Very
  helpful or Somewhat helpful
• For respondents who voted in Spanish
• 61.8 said there was someone assisting them in
  Spanish
• 85.8 reported no problems viewing the Spanish
  ballot

7
Touch-Screen Voting Machines

• While 43.3 of respondents who voted in Spanish
  said they required assistance in viewing the
  Spanish ballot on the voting machine, 61.8 of
  them said they received assistance in Spanish
• 90.5 of all respondents reported that their
  voting machine was working properly
• The Touch-Screen Voting Machines posed little or
  no difficulty to Hispanic voters
• 97.3 of all respondents said the touch-screen
  voting machines were either Very easy or
  Somewhat easy to use.

8
Touch-Screen Voting Machines (contd.)

• 68.8 of those who reported their voting machines
  were not working properly said there was someone
  assisting them in Spanish
• 82.2 of those respondents who voted in Spanish,
  said their machine was Very Easy to use while,
  only 5.9 encountered Some difficulty
• Moreover, 90.8 of respondents who voted in
  English said their machine was Very easy to
  use, while only 0.7 encountered Some
  difficulty

9
Assistance at the Polls (contd)

• 85.2 of respondents who said poll workers were
  Very helpful said they did not have problems
  viewing the Spanish Ballot
• Respondents who required assistance, rated poll
  workers favorably
• 45.7 of respondents who said poll workers were
  Very helpful in their overall voting
  experience, required assistance in viewing the
  Spanish ballot.
• 86.3 of respondents who said there was someone
  assisting them in Spanish, reported having NO
  problems with the Spanish ballot

10
Assistance at the Polls (contd)

• 71.4 of respondents who reported problems with
  viewing the Spanish ballot said there was someone
  assisting them in Spanish
• In turn, 61.3 of respondents who said their
  voting machine was working properly, said there
  was someone assisting them in Spanish

11
Broward SOE Survey Results

• Broward County SOE conducted a survey of clerks
  working on November 7, 2006
• 46.6 of Browards 352 precincts had a Spanish-
  speaking person assigned to their polling place
  
• 68.9 were Pollworkers 31.1 were Translators
• Only 10.8 of Broward precincts required
  assistance in Spanish.
• From all voters in Browards 352 precincts, there
  were only 160 individual voter requests for
  assistance in Spanish.
• Overall, results from the Broward SOE survey are
  complimentary to findings showing that few to
  virtually no problems were encountered by
  Spanish-speaking voters.

12
Conclusions and Recommendations

• Overall, Broward County precincts are providing
  excellent assistance to Hispanic voters on
  Election day
• Broward Countys SOE has also done an excellent
  job of distributing helpful information to voters
  prior to election day
• Moreover, Broward Countys touch-screen voting
  machines have been easy to use and worked
  properly for almost all Hispanics who voted on
  November 7, 2006
• Hispanic voters in Broward County show high
  English language proficiency, as over 70 said
  they voted in English
• Browards SOE should strongly consider posting of
  signs in Spanish outside of polling places,
  especially those with higher numbers of Hispanic
  registered voters
• Broward SOE should continue to emphasize the need
  for poll workers to offer assistance to
  Spanish-speaking voters