Democracy is a design problem
Elections should work for everyone. As democracy’s innovation lab, we’re here to make that happen.
What do we do?
Teach civic design skills
A few core skills are at the heart of our work. Bolster your knowledge of plain language, accessibility, and other principles.
Learn more skills
Create tools
Put our library of usable tools and templates to use in your elections office today.
Browse tools
Support election offices
We support states and counties in running efficient, effective, and secure elections. See how we’ve improved aspects of the voter experience.
See how we support running elections
Research interesting problems
Our work is based on research with real voters and election offices from around the country.
Read our researchWhat’s new?
One of our principles is to share what we produce widely and freely. Check out some of our recent tools, research, and newsletters.
Polling place signage toolkit
Signage guidelines and ready-to-use templates for election offices of all sizes.
Designing election dashboards that inform and build trust
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.
Ballot Order: Randomization and rotation
These best practices outline the options to produce randomness, drawing from political science research and examples across the country.
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Practical tips and civic design research delivered right to your inbox once a month.
Sign up for Civic DesigningSupport our mission
Your support helps us create research, tools, and design best practices, so that everyone who is eligible feels invited to participate in our elections.
Support CCDHow do we work?
We work with elections offices and other government agencies, democracy advocates, and community organizations across the country to make elections easier to run, support innovation, and invite civic participation. We use design best practices to remove barriers in the voter journey, ensuring everyone who is eligible can participate in our democracy.
- National brand for VBM
- Effective voter communications
- Setting standards
- Bridging communities
Our mail-in ballot envelope designs ensure every voter can confidently cast a ballot
Our vote by mail materials are in use in over 20 states since 2016, making dreams of a national standard closer to reality.
Our designs make casting a ballot clear and straightforward for voters and efficient for the U.S. Postal Service to process. And they reduce the number of mail-in ballots that are rejected due to technical errors.
Our best practices improve voter communications
Election officials nationwide use our field guides, toolkits, and training to communicate with voters clearly and effectively. By applying these best practices, offices have created voter guides and election materials that make every step of the voter journey easier to understand.
Our resources have also shaped how information about elections should be written on a national level, from the EAC Voter Education Design Toolkit to new plain language laws in Maryland and New York.
We write standards that define election accessibility and excellence
As partners in the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence, we set nonpartisan benchmarks that define excellence in election administration, raising the bar for innovation, outreach, and voter trust across the country.
For the Election Assistance Commission’s Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG), we chaired the work on the first national requirements for usability and accessibility so everyone has equal access to the ballot. Our research continues to support standards for new election systems.
We partner with community groups to invite participation
From Texas to Ohio, we connect election offices and community groups in a 360-degree approach that builds trust and expands participation.
By bridging these worlds, we create elections that are more inclusive and resilient, especially for communities historically left out.
We make elections work better for everyone
Read more about how we work as democracy’s innovation lab
Our democracy depends on safe and secure elections. The design and policy implementation expertise Center for Civic Design brings to election information is crucial to ensuring that all voters can participate in voting.
Thank you so much for your help in creating an updated voter registration form that is eye-appealing, efficient, and easy to use. I appreciate the time and effort that your team put into helping us give the voters of South Dakota a great product. Keep up the good work!
I can't tell you how much I appreciate the bite-snack-meal framework for voter education. It's calming for both the voters and content creators to know we don't have to cover everything at once. We really couldn't have done it without you.
Using your vote by mail templates, we created a shareable template for colleges to use to explain the mail voting steps on campus and got great feedback. Thanks for making it so easy for us to use/create/share!
After taking the Election Design course, I was inspired to continue learning and growing in this field, so I’m getting a Certificate in Election Administration at the University of Minnesota. I’m excited to deepen my knowledge and explore the systems that support our democratic process.
The US Alliance for Election Excellence is proud to feature CCD's nonpartisan, general-use resources in our library for state and local election administrators. From civic icons and images to usability testing guides to language access support, CCD's tools empower government staff to better serve millions of voters. CCD is a model for using the best of design thinking to make a profound impact on civic life. They are top notch.
