Interactions - September/October 2009

may be paper-based (punch card, optical scan, hand counted), mechanical (lever machine), or electronic ( touch-screen or alternative input methods). Almost all are subject to a counting or voting machine’s requirements, which vary significantly with vendor and model. And ballot content varies by questions (national, state, county, municipal), required languages, and other factors.

Proprietary voting systems. •

some voting systems failed for correctable reasons (inadequate paper quality, overfilled chad receptacles); other pieces of equipment (lever machines) were becoming antiquated yet still producing low error rates. However, HAVA funds were quickly invested to replace older equipment—the perceived culprit—resulting in a missed opportunity to subject new systems to rigorous design requirements and codifying a new generation of systemic

ing guidelines recommending 12-point type and visual instructions by the wayside.

The Approach AIGA’s Design for Democracy initiative was established in 1998 in order to advocate for the value of design with legislators and assemble and empower designers working in government. Seeing a critical need, the organization turned its attention to election design following the 2000 presidential

Images courtesy of the AIGA and Winterhouse Institute Polling Place Photo Project

Since election equipment is manufactured by a private, competitive industry, all current election technologies are proprietary (there are emergent efforts to produce open-source systems, but they are in early stages). It is difficult to create a well-designed ballot with much of the available equipment, especially in cases where ballot layouts are database driven. (Some election officials battle their systems to produce usable ballots; more outsource ballot design back to the vendors that provide their equipment.)

The rush to reform. • In 2000

design challenges. (The rush also resulted in the premature rollout of electronic systems, leaving the medium conflated with security and accuracy concerns, both warranted and unwarranted.)

Limited election budgets •
and other back-office concerns.

Elections must be low in cost, accurate, and quick to be counted, though these three objectives often compete. For instance, fixed postage and printing budgets along with limited storage and processing capabilities may dominate ballot-layout decisions, leav-

election. Then AIGA Chicago chapter president Marcia Lausen and her design students from the University of Illiniois-Chicago (UIC) began work on their local Cook County election materials. After developing a relationship with County Clerk David Orr, the team of students and professionals proceeded to design solutions not only for ballots but also for voter-reg-istration forms, polling-place signage, and voting booths.