Civic design bibliography


Better Design, Better Elections

Why the article is helpful

  • Documents how design mistakes can affect elections.
  • Examples of poor and misleading instructions, unclear messages, and election forms that contributed to the loss of votes.
  • Update to the 2008 Better Ballots report.

Many of the same problems from Better Ballot are repeated in this report and there are new examples. ”We estimate that in the 2008 and 2010 general elections combined, as many as 400,000 people had their absentee or provisional ballot rejected because they made technical mistakes completing the forms or preparing and returning the envelope.”

Examples in the report include

  • Ballots layout from Illinois and Florida that invite voters to skip contests
  • Ballots in Ohio and New York that split contests across rows or columns inviting voters to mark too many choices.
  • Missing and confusing instructions in Florida and Ohio
  • Inadequate overvote (marking too many choices) warnings in New York

There are also case studies from Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, and Ohio where election officials used voter education, usability testing and other corrective actions to solve problems.

Additional details

The report concludes: American elections are marred by major design problems. As smartphones and computer tablets have convinced many people and businesses of the importance of good design and usability, elections have changed far more slowly

  • Poor design increases the risk of lost or mis-recorded votes among all voters, but the risk is even greater for particular groups, including low-income voters and the elderly.
  • Several hundred thousand votes were not counted in the 2008 and 2010 elections because of voter mistakes, in some cases affecting the outcome of critical contests.
  • The rise of absentee and provisional voting since 2000 has only increased the importance of design in elections. They estimate that in the 2008 and 2010 general elections combined, as many as 400,000 people had their absentee or provisional ballot rejected because they made technical mistakes completing the forms or preparing and returning the envelope
  • There are simple measures election officials can take before November to cure design defects in ballots, voting machines, and voter instructions.
  • We encourage election officials to review lost vote data from previous elections, conduct usability tests, and work with experts to find design problems and solutions before this November’s election.

Links to article

Norden, L., Quesenbery, W., Kimball, D. (2012) Better Design, Better Elections. The Brennan Center for Justice