Watch the Webcast! An archived Webcast of the event is available here.

 Transcript

 Sunshine Notice

Overview
The panel discussion examined key issues facing election officials and journalists in reporting election results, particularly in competitive states. Some of the topics include:

• Voting systems technology: To what extent can systems speed or delay election results? How trustworthy are the results?
• Non-traditional ballots: (i.e., provisional ballots, absentee ballots, ballots of military and overseas citizens.) More and more citizens are voting non-traditional ballots. How and when are they counted? What is their significance in close contests?
• Getting results: How and when do election officials get their results? What information do reporters need from officials, and in what form?
• Exit polls and time zones: Reporting on East Coast results when West Coast polls are still open. How useful are exit polls in reporting final results?
• Post-Election Issues: What triggers an automatic recount? What are state laws on mandatory recounts and audits?

Panelists 

• Jennifer Brunner, Ohio Secretary of State
• Chris Nelson, South Dakota Secretary of State
• Pam Fessler, Correspondent, National Public Radio
• Don Rehill, Deputy Director of Election Tabulations, Associated Press

The discussion was moderated by Greg Dobbs, chief correspondent of HDNet's "World Report," and host of "Colorado State of Mind" on Rocky Mountain PBS.

Details
When: October 15, 2008 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Where: National Press Club of Washington, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor, Washington, DC, 20045. 
Contact: Sarah Litton, EAC Deputy Director of Communications, (202) 566-0422 or slitton@eac.gov.