Election design tools and resources

The following ballot and election design tools and resources—created by AIGA Design for Democracy and others as noted—may be useful to election officials, legislators, equipment providers, printers, designers and press.

If you'd like assistance with human resources (hiring an Election Design Fellow or finding a designer in your area), please visit Government officials: Get help.

• Design and testing tools
• Advocacy resources
• Election news and research
• Information and community resources
• Election governance, officials and equiptment

Design and testing tools

• Ballot and polling place design guidelines and samples
  AIGA/EAC 2007 report including federal election design guidelines and complete set of editable ballot and polling place material samples (see report sections 2 through 5 and corresponding samples)
• Top 10 election design guidelines
  AIGA's short and simple list of guidelines for the design of ballots and other election materials
• Voting system guidelines: ballot instruction language
  National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) 2009 ballot language guidelines supersede ballot language recommendations found in the AIGA/EAC report; select “Report of Findings: Use of Language in Ballot Instructions, NIST IR 7556;” see also: the authors' top 10 guidelines for creating a plain language ballot
• Usability testing kit for ballots/Tools-and-Resources/Publications/Design-for-Democracy/
  Usability Professionals Association (UPA) “LEO Kit” is designed for use by election officials and designers; no usability background required

Advocacy resources

• “How Design Can Save Democracy”
  An interactive exploration of ballot design improvements, by AIGA for The New York Times.
• Design for Democracy: Ballot and Election Design
  This book by Marcia Lausen, published by AIGA and The University of Chicago Press, responds to the events of the 2000 election and illustrates subsequent improvements to election materials in the states of Illinois and Oregon
• “Citizen-Centered Design (Slowly) Revolutionizes the Media and Experience of U.S. Elections”
  Article by AIGA for interactions magazine about Design for Democracy's partnership with the EAC, including discussion of ballot and election design challenges and AIGA's response, beyond the guidelines
• “Better Ballots”
  The Brennan Center for Justice argues for better ballot design and the usability testing of ballots, observing cases where poor ballot design has led to measurable errors

Election news and research

• Research Database on the U.S. Voting System and Voting Technology
  American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) provides access to research about voting and elections from broad sources including Caltech/MIT's Voting Technology Project (VTP) and Election Data Services
• Electionline.org
  Pew Center on the States' web resource for nonpartisan news and analysis on election reform
• Election Administration Reports
  These biweekly newsletters cover election legislation updates, election technology and accessibility, government reports about election administration and topics aliressed at national meetings of election officials

Information and community resources

• Top 10 ballot design tips (for designers)
  AIGA's tips for beginning ballot designers, who are not yet experienced in election administration
• Ballot design samples
  AIGA's collection of previous and historical ballots from mixed sources; includes PDFs of AIGA's proposed ballot designs
• Ballot and polling place design guidelines and samples
  AIGA/EAC 2007 report including the detailed research findings that inform the guidelines (see report sections 6 and 7); the report is also available at www.eac.gov
• EAC project case study
  AIGA's 2008 report on the history and EAC partnership that produced national ballot and polling place design guidelines; includes highlights from the resulting report
• Ballot Usability and Accessibility blog
  UPA discussion of issues in ballot usability and accessibility

Election governance, officials and equipment

• Help Americans Vote Act (HAVA) 2002
  The U.S. Government's legal response to the 2000 election; sections 241(b)(2) and 302(b) require ballot reform and public posting of key information for voters in polling places
• Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG)
  NIST document governed by HAVA including usability, accessibility and technical requirements; though voluntary, they are respected by the leading providers of election systems in the U.S.
• The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC)
  Federal agency established by HAVA to execute its requirements; The website's “Election Official Center” includes AIGA's design guidelines and other best practice reports
• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
  Includes federal requirements regarding service of disabled voters
• The Department of Justice: Civil Right Division: Voting Section
  The Department of Justice lists other voting laws they enforce and that govern elections nationally

National associations of, and resources for, election officials—government employees who run local U.S. elections

• Election Center
• IACREOT (International Association of Clerks, Recorders, Election Officials and Treasurers)
• NASED (National Association of State Election Directors)

Leading providers of voting equipment in the United States, including proprietary and emerging open-source solutions

• ES&S
• Hart Intercivic
• Sequoia
• Open Source Digital Voting Foundation
• Open Voting Consortium