Election Design Fellows
Election Design Fellows are communication designers who assist
states in the design of election materials, such as ballots, voter
registration forms and educational websites. Fellows help to
improve election accuracy and citizen experience, with respect to
each state's local laws and election equipment, by implementing the
election reforms mandated by the Federal Election Commission's
Help America Vote Act of
2002 (HAVA) and the ballot and polling
place design guidelines suggested by AIGA Design for Democracy and
the U.S. Election Assistance
Commission (EAC). Design for Democracy partners with
Secretaries of State and election officials to recruit, select and
support well-qualified designers for termed, open positions. The
program was initiated in Oregon in 2006 under the leadership of
John Lindback, the state's chief election official and a Design for
Democracy advisor, and in 2008 was introduced in the state of
Washington, under election director Nick Handy.
Want to hire an Election Design Fellow in your state or
county?
Please contact Design for Democracy.
Current fellows
Jessi Long is serving as Oregon’s Election Design Fellow, under contract to the office the Oregon Secretary of State. She is working on Phase 2 of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), helping the state to move beyond the election design reforms developed during the tenure of previous Fellows toward increasing registration and voter participation. An important element of this phase will be the redesign of the election-related websites.
Long, formerly a co-president of the AIGA Nebraska chapter, has a BFA degree from Oregon State University. She worked at OSU and, most recently, at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in an inter-professional, collaborative environment as an in-house print designer.
Sarah Higgins is serving as Washington State’s Election Design Fellow, under contract to the office of the Washington Secretary of State, Sam Reed. She is assisting the state in the creation of bilingual ballots and voter information materials as counties aim to keep their diversely growing populations informed. She is also working with print vendors on continued efforts in ballot design reform, and working with state employees on the visual redesign of an online voter registration tool.
Higgins brings design firm, teaching, and public service design experience to the position. She holds a MFA degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago, a BFA from Maine College of Art, and has spent time studying at the Basel School of Design in Switzerland.
Past fellows
Jenny Greeve served as Washington State’s first Election Design Fellow from 2010–2011 under contract to the office of the Washington Secretary of State, Sam Reed. She worked to redesign the state voter registration form and educate local officials about design resources, such as Design for Democracy’s top 10 election design guidelines.
Sarrah Elizondo served as Oregon’s third Election Design Fellow from 2009–2010 by continuing her predecessor’s ballot design reform efforts and helping the state in its commitment to bringing election materials online. An award-winning designer, Elizondo brought to the position her experience in print gained at a California design firm, as well as her experience with interactive tools gained at Intuit and a bachelor’s degree in art and design from California Polytechnic State University.
Amy Vainieri served as Oregon’s second Election Design Fellow in 2008-2009, significantly advancing ballot design reform efforts and updating election manuals. She brought design firm experience, an MFA in graphic design from the Savannah College of Art and Design and her thesis work–exploring presidential candidates’ visual branding and alternatives for neutral communication of candidate positions to voters–to the role.
Matthew Goodrich served as Oregon’s first Election Design Fellow from 2007–2008.