CVCC EXIT POLLS in Centre County
Because Centre County PA is using ES&S iVotronic voting systems, without voter verified paper ballots, exit polls are the only method we have to provide a check on the official election results.

CVCC joined forced with the Pennsylvania State University Statistics Department to conduct exit polling in three precincts, in November 2006 and 2007.

Exit Poll 2006 showed that two of the three precincts had significant abnormalities in the election result comparisons.
Exit Poll 2007 showed that no differences between the exit poll results and the official results.
This makes us even more suspicious of our 2006 findings, especially considering the many incidents of vote switching on the screen that were reported in Nov. 2006. (For more on vote switching, see page 2 of CVCC 2006 Report)
Our most recent exit poll also indicates that voters over age 55 are 3 times more likely to be dissatisfied with our current touch screen voting machines than younger voters.

The precincts in question in Nov 2006:
College North:
Governor and State Senate races were in question. Democratic candidates Rendell and Eich won in our exit polls but official wins there went to Republicans, Swann and Corman.
Ferguson NE:
Rendell was the winner in both the exit poll and official count but our exit poll showed he would've won by a significantly higher margin.
Details on page 2 and page 8 of this document:
Exit Poll Nov 2006 Results

PSU entered these numbers 3 times to be sure.
Because we do not have a paper record and cannot do recounts for these 2006 results, we simply cannot determine why these numbers did not match and have no way to know if it was a problem with the machine's official count or something in our exit polls.
We can only raise the question and the issue as EVIDENCE THAT WE NEED A VOTER VERIFIED PAPER RECORD IN ALL OUR ELECTIONS!

CVCC brief history:
CVCC began as a small grassroots group of less than 10 people in 2005 and has grown to nearly 70 active members.

• Spring 2006: As the Help America Vote Act was being implemented, CVCC launched a public informational campaign and lobbied our County Commissioners to select a voter verified voting system that provided a paper ballot for audits and recounts. Pennsylvania’s privacy laws prevent a paper roll from being used on DRE machines so we supported optical scan machines.
Despite our efforts, our county commissioners purchased ES&S iVotronics, a paperless voting system for Centre County.

• November, 2006: CVCC conducted poll watching in numerous precincts throughout the county.
- Our Report of Election Day Problems, 2006 documents 17 precincts that had problems printing zero tapes and opening on time.
- CVCC received numerous reports of vote-switching on the screen, especially in the Governor’s and Senator’s races.
Vote Switching was reported widely across PA in 2006. It was explained to be a calibration issue or voter error.

• November, 2006: CVCC joined forced with the Pennsylvania State University Statistics Department to conduct exit polling in 3 precincts, for the first time.
- Our Exit Poll results matched the official winners in all races except for in 2 races where the official results showed the Republican candidate had won for the Governor’s race and the State Senate race, but our exit poll results showed the Democratic candidates winning those races. This was a significant difference:
Nov 2006 Exit Poll PRESS RELEASE
NOV 2006 Exit Poll Summery

• Spring 2007 - November 2007: CVCC continues public education and informational meetings in support of paper ballot voting systems.
- By November 2007 ALL candidates running against the 2 incumbent County Commissioners supported a paper record and it became a major campaign issue.
The Chair, County Commissioner who was responsible for our County 's decision to purchase DREs was voted out of office and 2 of the 3 newly elected County Commissioners have committed to replacing our current paperless systems in favor of a paper ballot voting system!

- Fall 2007: CVCC was able to raise $1,020 to go towards our November 2007 exit poll expenses.

• November 2007: CVCC had poll watchers in many precincts.6 precincts had late openings and we consider it very strange that there were no reports of vote-switching on the screen in Centre County and we also have heard of none across the state. How were all theses calibration issues and user error problems corrected in one year?

• NOVEMBER 2007 EXIT POLL RESULTS
- Our Exit poll results match official results in all races polled, with 95% confidence. This provides a strong baseline for our exit polls in November 2008. If a race does not match-up next November it will be very hard to explain.
- This accuracy rate makes us even more suspicious that 2 races did not match in our Nov. 2006 exit poll.

OPED for Voices of Central PA November 2007

Thank you to the many local citizens whose donations supported our exit polls so far,
and thank you also to the Election Defense Alliance for their support!