• There are usability problems with electronic ballots, too. In 2006, the 13th Congressional District race was won by just 369 votes. On the Sarasota
County ballot (left), it shared the screen with the governor’s race, and 13 percent of voters (more than 18,000) skipped it. In neighboring Charlotte
County (right), it was on its own screen; only 2. 5 percent skipped the race. Trying to save voters one click may have changed the results of the election.
completed ballots to the state in
which they claim U.S. residence.
Some counties, including
Bernalillo County in New Mexico,
have moved to voting centers
instead of neighborhood polling
places. In exchange for fewer locations, voters can vote at any of
them, no matter where they live in
the county. This allows more flexibility, such as going to vote during
the day at a location near work.
Analysis of census data shows
that although people with disabilities still vote at a lower rate than
those without disabilities, this gap
is narrowing, from 7 percentage
points in 2008 to a 3 percent gap
in 2010 [ 8]. Convenience voting is
especially helpful for voters with
disabilities, who choose it in larger
numbers than voters without disabilities. This makes sense when you
consider the challenges of traveling
to an unfamiliar location and the
number of polling places that are
not fully accessible. A vicious circle
can result, with polling places and
voting systems becoming even less
accessible as voters with disabilities
become less common—and less visible in the political process.
Another issue is that absentee and
mail-in ballots are on paper, making
independent voting impossible for
those with print disabilities. Election
departments, including those of
Denver, Miami, and Oregon, have
programs that take a virtual polling place with accessible systems
to voters in assisted-living facilities
or to those who cannot travel to a
voting center for any other reason.
Online systems, like the ones for
overseas voters that print a marked
ballot, could also help people cast an
absentee ballot more accurately and
accessibly.
Long Lines and Other Disasters
And this brings us to the big issues
of 2012: Superstorm Sandy and long
lines.
There is not much to say about
the long lines that many voters
experienced, especially in urban
areas. The worst cases were in
Florida, where voters waited in line
for up to seven hours. But two- to
three-hour waits were common,
with polling places closing late to
allow everyone to vote. Long lines
are simply the result of a failure
to estimate the numbers of voters
or the timing of when they would
arrive at the polling place, and to
provide enough capacity to handle
the crowds. Look for a lot of discus-
sion this year about solutions to this
problem, such as adding extra poll
workers in the evenings or increas-
ing options for early voting.
March + April 2013