Designing election dashboards that inform and build trust

April 18, 2025

Here are a few tips and ideas from the Michigan Voting Dashboard that can help you decide how to display election data you’re working with.

Ensuring that voters verify their ballot needs a holistic approach

November 14, 2019

To make sure voters check their printed ballots, reminders need to be woven into the entire voting experience.

The tiny journey of marking and casting a ballot

September 12, 2019

A well-designed voting system considers the steps in marking, reviewing and verifying a ballot.

Having impact – a mid-year update for 2019

July 17, 2019

Where have we worked? In 33 states or 65% of the country, representing 39% of the voter turnout in 2018.

Voting in your pajamas is great. Now let’s make sure everyone can do it.

May 15, 2019

We want voting to be easy. But as we move to voting at home, let's not leave people with disabilities behind

Put navigation instructions where voters need them

April 5, 2019

Are voters missing contests because they don't see instructions to turn the ballot over?

Ballot marking devices make voting universal

February 24, 2019

Ballot marking devices help many kinds of voters mark, review, and verify their votes.

Solving election problems, upstream and down: Center for Civic Design in 2018

January 25, 2019

We’re all about ensuring that voters can vote the way they intend -- and all of the election administration activities that support participation.

Don’t legislate ballot design (there’s a better way to improve ballots)

January 16, 2019

Ballot design standards ensure that ballots help voters mark their choices accurately and vote as they intend.

Typography makes ballots easy to read

January 14, 2019

Way back in 2000, the election director in Palm Beach County wanted to make the text on the ballot larger...

Helping vote-by-mail ballots make their way to the voter and back again

November 3, 2018

How to help vote-by-mail ballots get to voters and back to the elections office.

Designing great language support for voter registration

September 28, 2018

Language support can be a challenge. Starting with plain language helps everyone, especially people with low English proficiency.

Making online voter registration accessible to people with disabilities

September 26, 2018

People who use your websites have a wide range of needs. Make forms and apps that work for everyone.

A form is a conversation

September 25, 2018

In a world where we have to collect information directly from people, there must be forms. Including voter registration forms.

Streamlining and nudging in voter registration

September 24, 2018

How to help would-be voters answer the question "Do you want to register to vote?" easily and accurately.

How journalism can help people register to vote

September 14, 2018

September 25 is National Voter Registration Day. One of the major obstacles to voters voting is that they’re not registered....

Design, test, repeat: designing a new ballot record form

August 29, 2018

Creating a new form - with iteration and testing - that helps poll workers account for ballots accurately.

You see a provisional ballot, voters see their ballot

July 20, 2018

A key feature of the Help America Vote Act allows more possibly eligible people to vote.

How to make videos accessible to people with disabilities

July 16, 2018

How do you make sure that videos are accessible to people with disabilities?

Why not just use pens to mark a ballot?

May 13, 2018

Making voting universal, accurate, and secure with better ballot designs.

Catalyzing change across the voter experience: Center for Civic Design 2017

March 14, 2018

We're working to make elections easier and more engaging -- for voters and election officials.