Why the article is helpful
- Language of instructions to voters
- Discuss and offer examples of best practices in giving instructions
- Research on which were drawn for these best practices
The article discussed language and placement of voter instructions because it could either help or hinder a voter from successfully voting. It reviewed more than 100 paper ballots from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, sample ballots on three Direct Recording Electronic voting machines (DREs), and the online demonstration of voting on the website of a fourth DRE. Based on research, the authors discussed and offered examples of best practices in giving instructions and also found that most ballots in the United States violated these best practices.
Additional details
Best practices:
- Tell people about consequences before they are likely to act
- Put the context before the action in each instruction
- Use familiar, common words. Avoid technical or specialized words that users are not likely to understand
- Put instructions in logical order: First task, first; last task, last
Links to article
Laskowski, S. J., & Redish, J. (2006). Making ballot language understandable to voters. Proceedings of the USENIX/Accurate Electronic Voting Technology Workshop 2006 on Electronic Voting Technology Workshop (pp. 1–1). Retrieved from http://static.usenix.org/event/evt06/tech/full_papers/laskowski/laskowski.pdf