Resources

This paper describes a two-pronged effort to increase the accessibility and inclusivity of the vote by mail process for voters who are blind, have low vision, or low dexterity and voters who read at Basic or Below Basic levels. These efforts focus on the accessibility and usability of Maryland's online ballot marking tool and revising paper instructions and envelopes in vote-by-mail packages.

This article revisits public attitudes about voter identification and voter fraud in a period of intensifying partisan polarization, focusing on beliefs about fraud and exposure to misleading claims being central mechanisms through which confidence in election outcomes rises or falls.

This post-election survey reports on how Americans cast ballots in 2016 and how confident they were that votes were counted accurately.

In 2016, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) provided a report to congress in which they provide a literature review and outline election officials regarding issues with registering voters and administering elections. Through this study, the GAO found that the benefits of collecting and sharing voter registration information electronically included improved accuracy and cost savings; while challenges included upfront investments and ongoing maintenance, among other things.

This paper surveys local election officials to examine their knowledge of Election Day lines and the steps they take to address them, finding that data collection and resource flexibility are key to reducing wait times.

This paper finds that longer ballots cause voters to become more frantic, adopt various search strategies, and spend less time researching each candidate, which raises the chances of errors and missing races.

This paper finds that the placement and configuration of voting booths, including the spacing between machines and the use of dividers, significantly increase levels of anticipated voting system usability and voter confidence.

This paper examines how precinct-level resources such as staffing, equipment, and voter arrival patterns influence voter wait times, revealing that resource allocation decisions are a key factor in long lines.

This paper finds that Hispanic voters were more likely to abstain from voting after being reassigned to a different Election Day polling place than voters in other racial groups.

This paper reviews how voting systems that are not designed to support human perceptual and cognitive limitations pose a serious threat to accurate ballot recording, and have almost certainly altered election outcomes in the United States.

This three-part report explores the usability of electronic poll books for poll workers and voters. It includes (1) a landscape analysis of e-pollbook usability within polling locations, (2) a usability test plan that election officials and vendors can implement, and (3) a checklist of usability and accessibility features for procurement and assessment.

This article highlights the complexity of designing and implementing poll worker training programs given the varying requirements of federal, state and local laws. Authors examine the unique practices of administrators in Williamson County, Texas, hearing first-hand and how they identify shortcomings of poll worker programs and implement improvements based on lessons learned.