Shawnee and Douglas Counties are trying to prevent the problems of the 2000 and 2004 elections from occurring again by redesigning their ballots with Design for Democracy, a branch of AIGA, the professional association of design.
The small changes on the ballots could keep the confusion that happened in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004 from happening again.
The changes implemented are a result of findings by Design for Democracy. They took basic elements of design and applied them to voting. The hope is to make voting an easier and more comprehendible process. The changes should also help with several problems including residual vote loss.
Design for Democracy started as a project of Marcia Lausen's, University of Chicago Professor of Design, and her students. It was eventually picked up and endorsed by AIGA.
"I think what's kind of cool about it is that it came out of a professor and some students saying how can we take what we're studying and apply it to this other thing and make a difference," said Jamie Shew, Douglas County Clerk.
Though the changes from Design for Democracy could be considered small, they add up to a different looking ballot.
"In some ways it's simple. It's a changing things, you're changing your fonts and headings--that type of thing," said Shew.
However, the change in styles does not change anything else about the voting experience.
"Nothing changes about how you vote. You still use the ovals and that type of thing, which is what we do here in Douglas County. All it does change is the font style, what things are bolded, it uses a lot of principles of design like left justify," said Shew. "We used to center everything but research shows that people read left justify a lot easier. It uses shadings to highlight offices vs. candidates. It uses Icons."
These new designs boil down to helping the voter, which is the goal of Design for Democracy.
"A big thing for me is how do we make elections very usable, and user friendly," said Shew.
Shew is not the only county clerk or election commissioner in Kansas who's embracing this new design.
"I was really thrilled that we were able to get some real information that could make a difference for people," said Elizabeth Ensley, Shawnee County Election Commissioner.
The process of changing the ballot was time consuming but those involved believe they'll make a difference for voters. Design for Democracy didn't charge for discussions with Shew or Ensley on the ballots, only for the book that came out of the studies.
"Just this year I've been in contact with two of their graphic artists. In fact we would meet every month or so over the telephone," said Ensley. "We would email them some of the work that we had done and they would respond to that and make additional suggestions. We didn't always agree on everything but we certainly did on the overall layout, the way it's left justified. It's a san serif style. All that was terribly helpful."
Design for Democracy wants to work together with county clerks and election commissioners because it feels that a dialogue is needed in order to attain the best results.
"Design does not happen in a void. Design is a process of trade-offs," said Jennifer Freidman Hewitt, managing director of design for democracy.
It wasn't as if county clerks or election commissioners hadn't been attempting to design the ballots in a user-friendly way--it just isn't their field of training.
"We always had tried but that's without being given any information, just guessing and trying to make distinctions trying to make it clear. We always did try to make it clear but this is just so much better," said Ensley.
In Shawnee County the changes had proved successful in trial runs even though county officials were hesitant at first in how the changes would go over.
"When you've been producing something like this for years, I've been here 16 years, so over a decade, making something look like that: it's so hard to change the way you look at it. So we tried it in the one election and got to thinking that it did look a lot easier to read," said Ensley.
The changes can also be seen as a way of retaining voters and getting them to complete the entire ballot without any confusion on when it's completed.
"People don't always read all the information but at a glance they should be able to tell what it is they are asked to make a decision on," said Ensley.
When in a rush people may misread a ballot or not finish filling it out, this is something else that Design for Democracy tries to change.
"One of the major things in election research that they look at is residual vote. Which is, a person walks in and they vote for president and they move down the line then they drop off somewhere. So do they still vote for county clerk while they vote for president? Or do we lose them. And if we lose them is there something in the system that caused that to happen. Is something impeding their vote?" said Shew.
The changes are being tested in this area, and the reaction is looking positive.
"The interesting thing that comes out of a lot of the research is that counties that have implemented or redesigned their ballot that's easier to use have less fall off on the residual vote," said Shew. "There's a theory, and you know this is all really new so it will take some time to go through it, but the theory is that it's easier to read it's easier to use so people continue to vote the ballot."
Both the commissioners commented on a pleasant experience redesigning the ballot and with the overall focus of AIGA and Design for Democracy.
"They want to be able to get the information out and get people to be able to use it," said
Ensley.
The changes are not glaring but they add up to a cleaner more efficient ballot and those who have made the changes are happy with their work.
"We've had a close relationship with them and it's been very helpful, very much a success," said Ensley. "We're rather proud of our ballot."
The small changes on the ballots could keep the confusion that happened in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004 from happening again.
The changes implemented are a result of findings by Design for Democracy. They took basic elements of design and applied them to voting. The hope is to make voting an easier and more comprehendible process. The changes should also help with several problems including residual vote loss.
Design for Democracy started as a project of Marcia Lausen's, University of Chicago Professor of Design, and her students. It was eventually picked up and endorsed by AIGA.
"I think what's kind of cool about it is that it came out of a professor and some students saying how can we take what we're studying and apply it to this other thing and make a difference," said Jamie Shew, Douglas County Clerk.
Though the changes from Design for Democracy could be considered small, they add up to a different looking ballot.
"In some ways it's simple. It's a changing things, you're changing your fonts and headings--that type of thing," said Shew.
However, the change in styles does not change anything else about the voting experience.
"Nothing changes about how you vote. You still use the ovals and that type of thing, which is what we do here in Douglas County. All it does change is the font style, what things are bolded, it uses a lot of principles of design like left justify," said Shew. "We used to center everything but research shows that people read left justify a lot easier. It uses shadings to highlight offices vs. candidates. It uses Icons."
These new designs boil down to helping the voter, which is the goal of Design for Democracy.
"A big thing for me is how do we make elections very usable, and user friendly," said Shew.
Shew is not the only county clerk or election commissioner in Kansas who's embracing this new design.
"I was really thrilled that we were able to get some real information that could make a difference for people," said Elizabeth Ensley, Shawnee County Election Commissioner.
The process of changing the ballot was time consuming but those involved believe they'll make a difference for voters. Design for Democracy didn't charge for discussions with Shew or Ensley on the ballots, only for the book that came out of the studies.
"Just this year I've been in contact with two of their graphic artists. In fact we would meet every month or so over the telephone," said Ensley. "We would email them some of the work that we had done and they would respond to that and make additional suggestions. We didn't always agree on everything but we certainly did on the overall layout, the way it's left justified. It's a san serif style. All that was terribly helpful."
Design for Democracy wants to work together with county clerks and election commissioners because it feels that a dialogue is needed in order to attain the best results.
"Design does not happen in a void. Design is a process of trade-offs," said Jennifer Freidman Hewitt, managing director of design for democracy.
It wasn't as if county clerks or election commissioners hadn't been attempting to design the ballots in a user-friendly way--it just isn't their field of training.
"We always had tried but that's without being given any information, just guessing and trying to make distinctions trying to make it clear. We always did try to make it clear but this is just so much better," said Ensley.
In Shawnee County the changes had proved successful in trial runs even though county officials were hesitant at first in how the changes would go over.
"When you've been producing something like this for years, I've been here 16 years, so over a decade, making something look like that: it's so hard to change the way you look at it. So we tried it in the one election and got to thinking that it did look a lot easier to read," said Ensley.
The changes can also be seen as a way of retaining voters and getting them to complete the entire ballot without any confusion on when it's completed.
"People don't always read all the information but at a glance they should be able to tell what it is they are asked to make a decision on," said Ensley.
When in a rush people may misread a ballot or not finish filling it out, this is something else that Design for Democracy tries to change.
"One of the major things in election research that they look at is residual vote. Which is, a person walks in and they vote for president and they move down the line then they drop off somewhere. So do they still vote for county clerk while they vote for president? Or do we lose them. And if we lose them is there something in the system that caused that to happen. Is something impeding their vote?" said Shew.
The changes are being tested in this area, and the reaction is looking positive.
"The interesting thing that comes out of a lot of the research is that counties that have implemented or redesigned their ballot that's easier to use have less fall off on the residual vote," said Shew. "There's a theory, and you know this is all really new so it will take some time to go through it, but the theory is that it's easier to read it's easier to use so people continue to vote the ballot."
Both the commissioners commented on a pleasant experience redesigning the ballot and with the overall focus of AIGA and Design for Democracy.
"They want to be able to get the information out and get people to be able to use it," said
Ensley.
The changes are not glaring but they add up to a cleaner more efficient ballot and those who have made the changes are happy with their work.
"We've had a close relationship with them and it's been very helpful, very much a success," said Ensley. "We're rather proud of our ballot."
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