October 27th, 2008
Monitor Election Problems Nationwide with OurVoteLive.org
Search by State or County for Real-Time Voter Reports on Election Day
San Francisco - Reporters, bloggers, and voters across the country can monitor problems at the polls on Election Day on
OurVoteLive.org, a project built and hosted by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on behalf of Election
Protection, the nation's largest nonpartisan voter protection coalition, and its toll-free voter-assistance hotline,
866-OUR-VOTE.
OurVoteLive.org collects and analyzes reports from calls to the 866-OUR-VOTE hotline, which is staffed by hundreds of
volunteers across the country. Tested during the presidential primaries, the site is already documenting over a thousand
examples per day of voters needing information or reporting problems such as registration and identification issues,
difficulties with voting machines, and polling place accessibility issues. Over 200,000 calls are expected to come into
the hotline and be documented on OurVoteLive.org through Election Day.
"Improved transparency in all aspects of the electoral process is critical to ensuring accurate results as well as
diagnosing systemic problems and helping voters," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Matt Zimmerman. "OurVoteLive.org is
helping the Election Protection Coalition make that possible."
In addition to call incident data, OurVoteLive.org also features maps, nationwide trend information, and an active
election issues blog that will highlight important election incidents as they develop.
"OurVoteLive.org will allow us to help more voters more effectively," said Jonah Goldman, director of the National
Campaign for Fair Elections at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which leads Election Protection. "We
-- along with election officials and the media -- will be able track trends and identify problem areas quickly so that
we can remove any barriers that voters face as they cast their ballots."
Election Protection has more than 100 partners at the national, state and local level and is providing live voter
protection services now through Election Day across all 50 states. On November 4, Election Protection will mobilize tens
of thousands of volunteers, including 10,000 legal volunteers to monitor polling places, educate voters, facilitate a
dialogue with local and state officials, provide legal support to poll monitors, and answer the 1-866-OUR-VOTE voter
services hotline -- a monumental undertaking designed to ensure smooth voting in November.
On Election Day, reporters who have questions about OurVoteLive.org or particular incidents reported on the site should
contact Nell McGarity via email at press@ourvotelive.com or by phone at 202-262-0721.
Contact:
Matt Zimmerman
Senior Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
mattz@eff.org
ENDS