Disenfranchised by design

Two studies on voting systems and the ballot interface explore issues related to information design and usability as they impact access to the election process and the accuracy of election results. While considerable research has been conducted on voting behavior from a political, historical, and social perspective, few studies can be found on the effectiveness of the ballot for communicating information that governs decision-making, or system design and the correspondence between voters' intentions and recorded decisions. The use of voting equipment and voters' perceptions of the voting experience have been largely overlooked. Findings from recent research studies address these issues.