Resources

In this paper, authors compare American Indian (AI) and Alaska Native (AN) registration, voting, and overall civic engagement to other racial and ethnic groups. They find several key socio-economic status indicators predicting civic and political engagement uniquely for AI/ANs, but they are not consistently significant across all years or all types of political participation.

In this paper, authors explore the role of polling place inaccessibility in contributing to the voting gap among people with disabilities. Authors found that, in the 2012 elections, the turnout gap was reduced but not eliminated and that 30% of voters with disabilities experienced difficulties voting. These findings support the claim that difficulties voting depress voter turnout.

This report proposes principles and guidelines for the design and development of remote ballot marking systems based on a review of current literature and existing standards for voting systems and accessibility and input from experts in the field. The principles support the development of systems that are usable, accessible, and secure, addressing the perceived conflict accessibility and strong election integrity.

This report proposes principles and guidelines for the design and development of remote ballot marking systems, considering them in their entirety. This includes the technical systems that make up a remote ballot marking system, the accessibility features and communications needed to support all voters, and the election administration procedures to deploy a remote ballot marking system.

Miller and Powell examine the extent to which people with disabilities vote in person or utilize convenience voting reforms relative to voters without disabilities. They find that voters with a disability are significantly less likely to vote but are more likely to vote by mail ballot. They also examine the efficacy of several additional reforms such as early voting in increasing turnout among voters with disabilities.

This report summarizes projections of how many people with disabilities would be eligible to vote in the November 2016 elections, using data from the Census Bureau’s 2010-2014 American Community Survey combined with Census Bureau population projections. The report breaks down key demographic characteristics of eligible voters with disabilities.

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 report highlights key trends in voter turnout among voters with disabilities in the 2016 elections. Authors note continuing gaps in registration and turnout of voters with disabilities compared to that of voters without disabilities. Voters with disabilities were also more likely to vote by mail before election day, reflecting the mobility problems faced by some voters with disabilities.

This white paper reviews the types of personal assistive technology (AT) that voters might use in the polling place. It focuses on technologies that are either currently in common use, or in early stages of development and may be widely available in the future.

This study sought to examine whether voting equipment layouts impact anticipated voting system usability. Through tests with thirty-five participants, authors found that configurations of voting machines inside a polling station impacted all subjective ratings, suggesting that environmental variables might need to be considered when configuring polling stations to maximize usability.

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.

Hale and Brown examine the local networks of election officials throughout the U.S. and the information exchanged between them. They demonstrate the ways in which local networks are central to innovation, key to the spread of new ideas from one locality to another, and fundamental to improving this area of public service across the country.