Philadelphia residents will have the opportunity to experience today's mayoral election like never before, courtesy of Penn's Fels Institute of Government.
For the first time, voter turnout data will be collected and posted in real time through various media outlets. The Fels Institute is at the helm of the initiative, teaming up with PoliticsPA, a Web site that provides information about state government issues and elections, WPHT 1210 AM and KYW-TV Channel 3.
Throughout the day, students primarily from Fels will disperse throughout the city and collect data samples from 50 different polling locations.
Every two hours, the students will call in numbers to a special system developed by Voterlink Data Systems, a company based in Bala Cynwyd, Pa.
Ken Smukler, founder of Voterlink and a 1982 College graduate, noted the revolutionary nature of the project.
"We're going into places in the campaign that the public has never seen before," he said. "What we're doing through Fels and for the radio station is what campaigns do for themselves on Election Day," he said.
Christopher Patusky, Fels' chief operating officer and the project manager of "ElectionWatch 2003," explained the high-tech mechanics of the initiative.
The poll workers will be using a "voice interactive response system," Patusky said. They will call in to report on the number of voters who have signed into the polls at six different points throughout the day. The polling locations that they will monitor remain secret to maintain the integrity of the data collected.
"It's a pretty neat electronic system," said Andrew Davenport, a second-year Fels student who will be working on the project today.
"The purpose of the project, first of all, is to study voting habits," Patusky said, noting that myths about voter behavior abound.
Some of these myths include "that the elderly vote in the morning, the Democrats vote in the evening," he said. By comparing the data to last year's numbers, Patusky and others on the project will be able to rapidly determine the truth behind these myths.
Also, he noted that "Fels students want to have the experience... working at the polls," since they are, after all, headed for government service.
"One of the things I'm interested in seeing is how people vote in Philadelphia, particularly what goes on outside the polls," Davenport said. "Are there a lot of people outside demonstrating? Are there vans being driven in from various locations?"
One of the main goals of the project, however, is to increase voter participation.
By making the process as interactive as possible, with voters able to check on data constantly, Patusky hopes politics will become more interesting for all voters.
"You get a little taste of the action in the field while it's happening," he said. "And we think that'll spark peoples' interest" in the election.
Furthermore, Patusky said he hopes that by collecting numbers, the students will be able to maintain "the integrity of the voting process."
Patusky and others will be able to compare the number of people who signed in to vote at polls with the actual number of votes cast, which will allow them to determine the legitimacy of the numbers.
If the number of votes cast exceeds that of people who voted, this would indicate that "people voted after polls closed" or "votes are being added into the mix," he said.
Other problems continue to plague elections, such as the fact that more people are registered to vote than are of voting age. This indicates that names of the deceased and of former Philadelphia residents remain on the list of registered voters, as do names that have since been changed.
In addition, by monitoring the polls and keeping "a watch on impropriety," the students can alert the media or authorities if voters are being subjected to any intimidation or misinformation.
Since such problems have happened in Philadelphia, Patusky will send out eight roving teams who will be available to respond to any situations which are problematic or interesting.
Smukler commented on the appropriateness of the initiative.
"The joint venture with Fels is natural," Smukler said. "Fels is focusing on the analysis of election in other projects they're doing and is interested in voter empowerment and the election protection issues."
Students and faculty alike are awaiting the information with anticipation.
"I heard the buzz about it and wanted to get involved, so they were really quick to sweep me into it," second-year Fels student and ElectionWatch worker Elizabeth Gabor said.
