Blog
Ballot & Election Material Design
By Lawrence Norden – 10/24/08
A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about some counties in Ohio that split the presidential contest into two columns on their paper ballots. We noted that this kind of split has caused problems for voters in the past.
More recently we've found out that some counties that use touch screen machines have split the presidential contest onto two pages -- meaning on the first screen voters might see Barr and Nader, and on the second screen McCain and Obama. For reasons explained in a memo we sent to county officials, that's likely to confuse and frustrate a fair number of voters. So far we have confirmed that Portage (home of Kent State), Hancock, and Wayne Counties have split the presidential contest this way. Others like Montgomery, Stark, and Butler Counties have managed to get the presidential contest (eight candidates and a write-in slot) onto one screen.
We've asked officials to change this ballot to make sure all candidates for the same office are on the same screen -- or, short of that, to make sure there is good public education at the polls to reduce voter confusion and frustration.
Tags: Democracy, Voting Rights & Elections, Ballot & Election Material Design, Voting Technology
By Lawrence Norden & Margaret Chen – 10/21/08
Some of you may have read about North Carolina's very confusing straight-party voting rules and ballots. If history is any guide, this has the potential to have a huge impact on the outcome of the presidential contest in North Carolina.
North Carolina, like 14 other states, has an option on the ballot that allows voters to cast a straight-party ballot with one mark. Straight-party voting allows voters to vote quickly and easily, and often results in more votes for down-ballot contests. But it presents some serious usability challenges for voters. And In North Carolina, straight-party voting is particularly tricky: a straight-party vote (counter-intuitively) does not include a vote for president—voters must make a separate mark under the presidential contest (this is in contrast to other states, like Texas, where attempting to vote for President after choosing straight party voting could nullify one's vote).
Perhaps not surprisingly, in the last few elections, North Carolina has had an unusually high number of voters who did not cast votes in the presidential election. Dr. Justin Moore of Duke University estimates 3.15% of voters did not have votes recorded for President in 2000, and 2.57% did not have votes cast for president in 2004.* As we noted in our recent report Better Ballots, having more than 1% of voters fail to cast a vote in the presidential contest is unusual and often an indication of a ballot design flaw or other problem.
Read the rest of this story ...
Tags: Democracy, Voting Rights & Elections, Ballot & Election Material Design, Election Day Issues, Voting Technology
By Lawrence Norden – 10/01/08
By our count, at least twelve Ohio counties have split the presidential contest over two columns on their paper ballots for this November's election. This "column split" often confuses voters and results in double voting in the presidential race — and an uncounted vote. Today the Brennan Center urged election officials and advocates in Ohio to make sure that voters are aware of the split, and to make sure they vote only once for president.
The twelve Ohio counties whose ballots spilt the presidential race over two columns are: Ashtabula, Athens, Auglaize, Champaign, Delaware, Lawrence, Logan, Madison, Ottawa, Seneca, Shelby, and Wyandot.
As a quick glance will show, it's no surprise that many voters cast two votes for president when the contest is listed across two separate columns. The one on the right is from Auglaize County (click to see larger).
Read the rest of this story ...
Tags: Democracy, Voting Rights & Elections, Ballot & Election Material Design, Voting Technology
Page 2 of 2 pages < 1 2
Permalink