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Coupling GIS with Online Time
Reporting to Monitor and Report
Vote Center Wait Times
Presented by
Dominick Cisson
Arapahoe County
GIS Administrator
Introduction
• Dominick Cisson, Arapahoe County GIS
Administrator
• 25 years in GIS, mostly public sector,
with a few years of private sector work
in the middle
• Specializing in cartographic web
development, database management,
all things GIS, and now vote center
monitoring
The Problem
• Arapahoe County, like many others in
Colorado uses the concept of “vote
centers” for their major election events
• Vote centers are not location-
constrained; any voter in the county
may vote at any vote center
• This would result in some vote centers
seeing much heavier volume than
others
• Centers within close proximity would
often have significant differences in wait
times, leading to voter frustration
In Need of a Solution
• In 2016 the Arapahoe Clerk and
Recorder requested a better way to
track vote center wait times so the
public could make informed decisions
when choosing a location to vote
• To do this required an automated and
accurate method to report said times.
– When Vote Centers got busy, election
judges would often forget to call in wait
times, or misjudge them greatly
– To get a good, granular view of wait times
would require calling vote centers too often
Requirements
• The new system had to require minimal
effort by staff; no calling for wait times,
or constant estimating of times by
election judges
• The information had to be provided to
voters in a simple, timely manner
• The Clerk and Recorder also wanted a
way to allow voters to see the vote
centers and ballot drop-off locations
closest to them
– With the wait times shown for the vote
centers, if they were presently open
– With hours of operation available for each
site
– They also wanted voters to be able to get
hands-free driving directions to each site if
they so desired
Requirements
In a Nutshell
• Many facets to the problem:
– Needed a way to monitor wait times at 25
separate vote centers, with minimal
disruption to workflows there.
– If possible, take wait time calculations out of
human hands, where mistakes could be
made
– Make the wait times as timely as possible
– Report wait times to the voting public
– More and more users rely on mobile
devices for information… the reporting
system had to be mobile friendly
In a Nutshell
• Even more facets to the problem:
– The system also needed to provide the
closest sites to each voter based on their
location, and the site’s hours of operation
– And, provide the user driving directions to
the site of their choosing
– And again, it had to work equally well on
mobile devices as it did on desktop
browsers
Locating Sites
• One of the core functions of the online
map is to quickly locate the closest sites
to an input address
• Performing network analysis like this on
the fly is expensive and time consuming
• To speed up the process, we pre-
calculated drive time rings for every
vote center and ballot drop-off location
in the county
Finding a voters
nearest site quickly
• The example above shows 2-minute
drive time rings for one site. Every site
was calculated out to 45 minutes
Finding a voters
nearest site quickly
• And this is another site in the county.
Every unique site (66 in all) had these
drive time polygons generated
Finding a voters
nearest site quickly
• The end result is almost a thousand
drive-time polygons overlapping each
other across the county
Finding a voters
nearest site quickly
• With the entire county covered by so
many polygons, it is possible to “drill
down” at any location, and drive time
polygons at that point
• In the example above, Smoky hill library
is the closest site, 2 to 4 minutes away
• The next closest sites are also quickly
accessible
Finding a voters
nearest site quickly
• These “Service Areas” are setup as a
GIS web map service, can be queried
via REST in a similar manner to the
previous slide
• Every service area is linked back to a
vote center Site
• Every site contains its name, address, a
link to the elections site info for it, its
hours of operation, and other info
• Now this information had to be relayed
to voters…
Developing the Online
Interface
• The first step was to develop an online
map that showed the locations of the
site’s closest to users as well as the
site’s operating hours
• Users needed to ability to look for either
vote centers to cast a vote, or for ballot
drop off locations to drop off their
already filled out ballot
• The interface, when run from a mobile
device, needed to use a voter’s current
location as its starting point, but still
provide the ability to search for a
specific address
Online Map
Application
• The application was designed with
mobile devices in mind first, and would
“scale up” to desktop browsers
• To this end, the interface was
developed using JQuery Mobile, and
the mapping back-end used was
Google Maps
– JQuery mobile provided the best scalable
interface for a variety of screen sizes
– Google Maps was used for its free and
quick API, and its mobile-device
friendliness as well
Demo
Find My Nearest
Showing Site
Information
• To accomplish the open/closed now
trickery, each site has its open times
defined as a JSON string
{'openHours':
[{'dayOfYear':'310','open':'09:00:00','close':'15:0
0:00'},
{'dayOfYear':'312','open':'09:00:00','close':'17:00
:00'},
{'dayOfYear':'313','open':'07:00:00','close':'19:00
:00'}]}
• The above site is open November 5th
, 7th
and 8th
, with varying hours each day.
• Using the moment.js library, it is
possible to navigate the hieroglyphics
above and provide users with useful
information
Showing Site
Information
• Each site’s information bubble also
provides a link to get driving directions
• When the user clicks the link, the user’s
original address and the site’s address
are passed to Google’s directions API
Driving
Directions
• Driving directions are provided as a fly-
over panel on the left side of the map
• Pressing “Open in Google Maps” will
pass the directions to native Google
Maps where more options are available
Driving
Directions
• On a mobile device, the directions tab
will pass the addresses to the native
map application
• On iOS devices this will be Apple Maps,
on Android, it will be Google Maps
• From there, the mobile device’s native
maps and location capabilities take over
and the user can get turn-by-turn
instructions to the site if they desire
Determining
Wait Times
• The second goal of this project was to
determine and report wait times at vote
centers in an automated fashion
• Based off a suggestion by the C&R, we
looked into a software as a service
package called TimeStation
• A few counties in North Carolina were
using this system in a limited manner to
check voters in and out of line
Determining
Wait Times
• TimeStation.com is a SAAS package
that is designed to operate as a virtual
“punch clock” for employees to clock in
and out of work using QR codes
• The C&R is using TimeStation for that
very purpose; so election judges can
quickly punch in and out for their shifts
• We extended this concept, and created
a number of “dummy” employees at
each site to track voters.
– They “punch in to work” when they get in
the queue to vote, and “punch out” when
they leave
Determining
Wait Times
• TimeStation provides Apps for use on
most mobile devices.
• Since every Vote Center has a pair of
iPads, they have an easy to use
interface for using TimeStation
• Using QR codes, the cameras on the
iPads are used to quickly identify an
employee and check them in or out of
work
• Each vote Center is setup with about 10
“voter employees” that are used to track
queue wait times.
Determining
Wait Times
• By treating a small subset of voters as
trackable employees, its possible to use
TimeStation to report wait times.
• Voters queue up to vote:
Determining
Wait Times
• A new voter arrives, and is given the
option to wear a QR-encoded lanyard to
wear.
• They are “checked in” to the queue by
the greeting judge using an iPad at the
check in station
Determining
Wait Times
• The voter enters the queue to vote, and
proceeds to make small talk
Determining
Wait Times
• The tracked voter works their way
through the queue, as their time in line
is growing
Determining
Wait Times
• When the voter reaches the front of the
queue, they are “checked out” by the
machine judge using another iPad
• The voter’s in and out times are
recorded by TimeStation and the
lanyard is returned to the check in desk
Determining
Wait Times
• Depending on the length of the queue,
there can be many lanyards cycling
through at any time.
• As voters come and go, TimeStation
records each one in the cloud.
• TimeStation provides an API that
exports employee check in and check
out times
• Using this API and its resultant report, it
is possible to extract voter’s “working
times” and parse them into wait times
on a per site basis
Determining
Wait Times
• To calculate wait times, a local web app
reads voter information from the
TimeStation API, then uses algorithms
to determine wait times
• The app can be configured to round
times to a specific interval, and to either
use the last reported time for each site,
or an average of reported times
• Once wait times are calculated, they are
applied to the election facility locations
in our GIS using an ArcGIS feature
service
Reporting
Wait Times
• It all comes together to display live wait
times on the “Find My Nearest” app
Reporting
Wait Times
• Wait times are shown on the Vote
Center symbols, as well as in their pop-
up information
Reporting
Wait Times
• We also provide a simple table-based
site for quickly viewing wait times
Potential
Pitfalls
• What could go wrong, and what issues
still exist.
– The Wait times reported are a lagging
indictor. In other words, you don’t know the
wait time is 20 minutes until someone tool
20 minutes to get through it
– The system relies on the vote center staff to
be attentive enough to keep lanyards
running through the line all day long
– If for some reason TimeStation and/or its
API go down, no more automated wait time
reporting
In Case of
Emergency
• What if TimeStation goes down, or the
iPad solution fails?
• There is a simple web app for manually
setting wait times as well
One more thing…
• A late game decision by the recorder
was to include a QR code on all ballot
envelopes
• This code links to a special site
designed solely to show the three
closest 24 hour ballot drop off sites to
the current location
• Using the same back end technology,
this site provides a simple web-based
list of three sites, all linkable to driving
directions.

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2016 gisco track: coupling gis with online time reporting to monitor and report vote center wait times by dominick cisson

  • 1. Coupling GIS with Online Time Reporting to Monitor and Report Vote Center Wait Times Presented by Dominick Cisson Arapahoe County GIS Administrator
  • 2. Introduction • Dominick Cisson, Arapahoe County GIS Administrator • 25 years in GIS, mostly public sector, with a few years of private sector work in the middle • Specializing in cartographic web development, database management, all things GIS, and now vote center monitoring
  • 3. The Problem • Arapahoe County, like many others in Colorado uses the concept of “vote centers” for their major election events • Vote centers are not location- constrained; any voter in the county may vote at any vote center • This would result in some vote centers seeing much heavier volume than others • Centers within close proximity would often have significant differences in wait times, leading to voter frustration
  • 4. In Need of a Solution • In 2016 the Arapahoe Clerk and Recorder requested a better way to track vote center wait times so the public could make informed decisions when choosing a location to vote • To do this required an automated and accurate method to report said times. – When Vote Centers got busy, election judges would often forget to call in wait times, or misjudge them greatly – To get a good, granular view of wait times would require calling vote centers too often
  • 5. Requirements • The new system had to require minimal effort by staff; no calling for wait times, or constant estimating of times by election judges • The information had to be provided to voters in a simple, timely manner
  • 6. • The Clerk and Recorder also wanted a way to allow voters to see the vote centers and ballot drop-off locations closest to them – With the wait times shown for the vote centers, if they were presently open – With hours of operation available for each site – They also wanted voters to be able to get hands-free driving directions to each site if they so desired Requirements
  • 7. In a Nutshell • Many facets to the problem: – Needed a way to monitor wait times at 25 separate vote centers, with minimal disruption to workflows there. – If possible, take wait time calculations out of human hands, where mistakes could be made – Make the wait times as timely as possible – Report wait times to the voting public – More and more users rely on mobile devices for information… the reporting system had to be mobile friendly
  • 8. In a Nutshell • Even more facets to the problem: – The system also needed to provide the closest sites to each voter based on their location, and the site’s hours of operation – And, provide the user driving directions to the site of their choosing – And again, it had to work equally well on mobile devices as it did on desktop browsers
  • 9. Locating Sites • One of the core functions of the online map is to quickly locate the closest sites to an input address • Performing network analysis like this on the fly is expensive and time consuming • To speed up the process, we pre- calculated drive time rings for every vote center and ballot drop-off location in the county
  • 10. Finding a voters nearest site quickly • The example above shows 2-minute drive time rings for one site. Every site was calculated out to 45 minutes
  • 11. Finding a voters nearest site quickly • And this is another site in the county. Every unique site (66 in all) had these drive time polygons generated
  • 12. Finding a voters nearest site quickly • The end result is almost a thousand drive-time polygons overlapping each other across the county
  • 13. Finding a voters nearest site quickly • With the entire county covered by so many polygons, it is possible to “drill down” at any location, and drive time polygons at that point • In the example above, Smoky hill library is the closest site, 2 to 4 minutes away • The next closest sites are also quickly accessible
  • 14. Finding a voters nearest site quickly • These “Service Areas” are setup as a GIS web map service, can be queried via REST in a similar manner to the previous slide • Every service area is linked back to a vote center Site • Every site contains its name, address, a link to the elections site info for it, its hours of operation, and other info • Now this information had to be relayed to voters…
  • 15. Developing the Online Interface • The first step was to develop an online map that showed the locations of the site’s closest to users as well as the site’s operating hours • Users needed to ability to look for either vote centers to cast a vote, or for ballot drop off locations to drop off their already filled out ballot • The interface, when run from a mobile device, needed to use a voter’s current location as its starting point, but still provide the ability to search for a specific address
  • 16. Online Map Application • The application was designed with mobile devices in mind first, and would “scale up” to desktop browsers • To this end, the interface was developed using JQuery Mobile, and the mapping back-end used was Google Maps – JQuery mobile provided the best scalable interface for a variety of screen sizes – Google Maps was used for its free and quick API, and its mobile-device friendliness as well
  • 18. Showing Site Information • To accomplish the open/closed now trickery, each site has its open times defined as a JSON string {'openHours': [{'dayOfYear':'310','open':'09:00:00','close':'15:0 0:00'}, {'dayOfYear':'312','open':'09:00:00','close':'17:00 :00'}, {'dayOfYear':'313','open':'07:00:00','close':'19:00 :00'}]} • The above site is open November 5th , 7th and 8th , with varying hours each day. • Using the moment.js library, it is possible to navigate the hieroglyphics above and provide users with useful information
  • 19. Showing Site Information • Each site’s information bubble also provides a link to get driving directions • When the user clicks the link, the user’s original address and the site’s address are passed to Google’s directions API
  • 20. Driving Directions • Driving directions are provided as a fly- over panel on the left side of the map • Pressing “Open in Google Maps” will pass the directions to native Google Maps where more options are available
  • 21. Driving Directions • On a mobile device, the directions tab will pass the addresses to the native map application • On iOS devices this will be Apple Maps, on Android, it will be Google Maps • From there, the mobile device’s native maps and location capabilities take over and the user can get turn-by-turn instructions to the site if they desire
  • 22. Determining Wait Times • The second goal of this project was to determine and report wait times at vote centers in an automated fashion • Based off a suggestion by the C&R, we looked into a software as a service package called TimeStation • A few counties in North Carolina were using this system in a limited manner to check voters in and out of line
  • 23. Determining Wait Times • TimeStation.com is a SAAS package that is designed to operate as a virtual “punch clock” for employees to clock in and out of work using QR codes • The C&R is using TimeStation for that very purpose; so election judges can quickly punch in and out for their shifts • We extended this concept, and created a number of “dummy” employees at each site to track voters. – They “punch in to work” when they get in the queue to vote, and “punch out” when they leave
  • 24. Determining Wait Times • TimeStation provides Apps for use on most mobile devices. • Since every Vote Center has a pair of iPads, they have an easy to use interface for using TimeStation • Using QR codes, the cameras on the iPads are used to quickly identify an employee and check them in or out of work • Each vote Center is setup with about 10 “voter employees” that are used to track queue wait times.
  • 25. Determining Wait Times • By treating a small subset of voters as trackable employees, its possible to use TimeStation to report wait times. • Voters queue up to vote:
  • 26. Determining Wait Times • A new voter arrives, and is given the option to wear a QR-encoded lanyard to wear. • They are “checked in” to the queue by the greeting judge using an iPad at the check in station
  • 27. Determining Wait Times • The voter enters the queue to vote, and proceeds to make small talk
  • 28. Determining Wait Times • The tracked voter works their way through the queue, as their time in line is growing
  • 29. Determining Wait Times • When the voter reaches the front of the queue, they are “checked out” by the machine judge using another iPad • The voter’s in and out times are recorded by TimeStation and the lanyard is returned to the check in desk
  • 30. Determining Wait Times • Depending on the length of the queue, there can be many lanyards cycling through at any time. • As voters come and go, TimeStation records each one in the cloud. • TimeStation provides an API that exports employee check in and check out times • Using this API and its resultant report, it is possible to extract voter’s “working times” and parse them into wait times on a per site basis
  • 31. Determining Wait Times • To calculate wait times, a local web app reads voter information from the TimeStation API, then uses algorithms to determine wait times • The app can be configured to round times to a specific interval, and to either use the last reported time for each site, or an average of reported times • Once wait times are calculated, they are applied to the election facility locations in our GIS using an ArcGIS feature service
  • 32. Reporting Wait Times • It all comes together to display live wait times on the “Find My Nearest” app
  • 33. Reporting Wait Times • Wait times are shown on the Vote Center symbols, as well as in their pop- up information
  • 34. Reporting Wait Times • We also provide a simple table-based site for quickly viewing wait times
  • 35. Potential Pitfalls • What could go wrong, and what issues still exist. – The Wait times reported are a lagging indictor. In other words, you don’t know the wait time is 20 minutes until someone tool 20 minutes to get through it – The system relies on the vote center staff to be attentive enough to keep lanyards running through the line all day long – If for some reason TimeStation and/or its API go down, no more automated wait time reporting
  • 36. In Case of Emergency • What if TimeStation goes down, or the iPad solution fails? • There is a simple web app for manually setting wait times as well
  • 37. One more thing… • A late game decision by the recorder was to include a QR code on all ballot envelopes • This code links to a special site designed solely to show the three closest 24 hour ballot drop off sites to the current location • Using the same back end technology, this site provides a simple web-based list of three sites, all linkable to driving directions.