Failure to ask for voters’ names at check-in, failure to ensure voter privacy and a lack of supplies are among the problems identified by an elections watchdog group that sent observers to the polls in November.

More than 4,300 incidents in 15 California counties were cataloged by the Election Integrity Project in a report on the Nov. 8, 2016, election. The group describes itself as a “non-partisan, citizen volunteer organization whose mission is to advocate for fair and honest elections in California.”

The project’s motives have been questioned by critics who see it as a tool of conservative interests that want to make it harder to vote in the name of stopping voter fraud. In a 2012 KPBS report, California Common Cause Executive Director Kathay Feng said project volunteers complain to poll workers about small technicalities in ways that create a hostile voting environment.

Preventing voter fraud is the goal of a commission set up by President Donald Trump, who has said he would have won the popular vote if not for millions of illegally cast ballots.

Voter fraud has not been shown to exist on a widespread scale. A study by a Loyola Law School professor published in The Washington Post in 2014 found 31 instances of voter fraud out of more than 1 billion ballots cast between 2000 and 2014.

The Election Integrity Project’s 31-page report does not allege any specific instance of voter fraud. But it calls attention to observations the group believes threaten the integrity of elections.

“California has a lot of work to do not only to ensure fair and honest elections, but also to convince the public that there is a reason to participate in the process,” the report concludes.

Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties were among the 15 visited by project poll observers, and between 1,500 and 2,000 polling places in all were surveyed, according to the report.

Volunteers reported instances in which poll workers did not ask for a voter’s name and address when a voter checked in. “In a state with no voter ID requirement, a poll worker’s asking for and audibly repeating the voter’s name and address is one of only two California laws that help prevent voter impersonation,” the report read.

Also, voting booths were set up to face poll workers and other voters as opposed to facing a wall, “which significantly reduced voter privacy,” the report read.

The report documented more than 500 instances of voters casting ballots at tables instead of booths.

“This violation makes a mockery of our electoral process, and opens voters to intimidation and undue influence,” the report found.

Other concerns raised by project observers include:

. Voters with disabilities or language barriers sharing booths with helpers without swearing under oath that they require assistance.

“Allowing voter(s) to share booths or otherwise assist one another without first requiring the oath is a recipe for voter intimidation,” the report read.

. An “unprecedented” number of provisional ballots, especially on college campuses. Those ballots are checked to determine if the voter was eligible to vote.

“Many precincts, particularly those located on university and college campuses, were consistently in violation of the provisional ballot laws, providing provisional ballots to many out of county voters,” the report read. “Such practice disenfranchises each of those voters by misleading them into casting a ballot that cannot legally be counted.”

. People who had voted for years at the same precinct learning their names had been removed from the voter rolls.

. A lack of booths, ballot boxes, ballots and other supplies at polling places, despite the expectation of high voter turnout.

Orange County Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley said he’s not sure of the project’s methodology or where its data come from.

“As a general statement, we definitely remind poll workers of any deficiencies and address them on the spot,” he said. “Keep in mind these are volunteers, and, while we have a very robust training and support program, individuals often retain training in different ways.”

Kelley said poll-working training is “incredibly detailed,” but with 10,000 volunteers, elections officials know there will be issues that need to be addressed.

Los Angeles County elections officials said they take election integrity very seriously.

“Unfortunately, not having received or reviewed the report, we cannot comment on any specifics,” said a statement from the LA County registrar’s office. “We have a very rigorous poll monitoring program and work cooperatively with individuals and organizations who observe elections – including providing direct access on Election Day to ensure quick response or corrective action, if needed.”

David Wert, a San Bernardino County spokesman, said officials need more details about the project’s observations before making a full response.

“Are they talking about violations of the law, or simply things they didn’t like?” he wrote in an email. “It should be kept in mind that this group has no expertise in elections, and they work under the assumption that the system is corrupt with little to no evidence to suggest that’s true.”

Riverside County Registrar of Voters Rebecca Spencer said she had not seen the report, and no one from the Voter Integrity Project had contacted her about its concerns.

Problems with the vote?

The Voter Integrity Project, a grassroots citizens group, sent observers to polling places in 15 California counties last November.

They documented more than 4,000 incidents in a report that found problems with how the election was handled. Here are some of their findings.

. Poll workers did not ask voters for their names and addresses when they checked in, according to the report. This could open the door for voter impersonation, the report found.

. Voting took place outside of booths at tables with voters talking to each other, compromising the principle of the secret ballot and possibly making voters vulnerable to intimidation, the report read.

. The number of provisional ballots, issued to voters whose eligibility is in question, was “unprecedented,” according to the report. Unnecessary provisional ballots can undermine election integrity, the project found.

. Voters who had voted in the same precinct for many years were told their names were no longer on the voter rolls.

. Observers recorded more than 300 instances of “inappropriate or unlawful behavior” by poll workers, including “rudeness to observers and denial of observer rights to mishandling/jeopardizing ballots, allowing ineligible voters to vote and much more.”