LINCOLN- A group of students associated with the University of Nebraska- Lincoln timed how long it took voters to vote at the polls on Election Day. The students are part of a partnership between engineers and political scientists assembled by the University of Rhode Island, Auburn University and UNL. They are studying how to make voting more efficient. The group focused on 15 polling places in Douglas and Lancaster Counties with 30 students observing the polls, all of whom were trained to collect the data needed for the study.

This research is funded by the Democracy Fund and the Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project.

The design of polling places have been criticized for years as people are left waiting in lines to vote for hours on end. This was only heightened during the election in the midst of a pandemic. In Nebraska, the largest numbers of people seemed to flock to the polls in the morning, but in Rhode Island it hit during 5 o'clock traffic. The hope is for this research to spark more conversation on the matter, and provide options for states to implement for efficient elections.

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