Voter Confidence Committee
of Humboldt County, CA




Parallel Elections

November 8, 2005--the Voter Confidence Committee conducted Humboldt County's first Parallel Election (PE). The PE is like a citizen-run exit poll, though it is superior in some ways. What exactly is a PE and what are the benefits?

  • What is a PE?
    As voters leave a polling place where a PE is being conducted, a volunteer will invite them to help double check the accuracy of the official vote count. The PE poll worker will ask the voter to sign the parallel roster book before completing a parallel ballot. Voters are asked to vote the same way in the PE as they did inside the polling place. In this way we can make a direct comparison between the reported results and parallel results on a precinct level. PE ballots are hand-counted in public after the polls are closed.
  • How is that better than an exit poll?
    • Exit pollsters ask voters to reveal how they voted while participants in the PE cast a second, secret ballot, as democratic elections traditionally offer.

    • All voters are asked to participate in a PE but only small numbers in narrowly defined demographics are questioned by exit pollsters.

    • Honest elections require citizen participation and civic engagement. If outsourcing election administration to partisan corporations represents a conflict of interest, then what is it for government officials to oversee their own elections?

    The VCC will once again conduct a PE for California's June 6 primary. The more community members who volunteer, the more polling places we can cover. The more precincts we double check the closer we can get to verifying the results for the entire county. To find out more about volunteering, please e-mail info@voterconfidencecommittee.org.

    The VCC would like to recognize the election integrity team at Study California Ballots for their leadership and pioneering work on parallel elections. For detailed instructions and downloadable PE materials, please visit their site. The VCC got virtually everything we needed to make this event happen by working with Judy Alter and Dan Ashby.

    For more details on our first PE, please visit the VCC History page.

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