Demystifying the mechanics of voting with a pocket guide

We had learned through research about the challenges that voters face in getting and understanding information about elections that there are two big buckets of need.

  • People who are new to voting or who haven’t voted in a long time need information about what their options are, what happens in a polling place, and how to mark a ballot.
  • People who are regular or avid voters are ready for information about who is running for office and what else is on the ballot.

This insight explained a lot of non-voter behavior we were seeing. In the meantime, the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Elections contacted us to help them develop a replacement for their so-called “easy voter guide.” It held a ton of important information, but it was hard for new voters to find what they needed to feel confident that they could vote effectively.

The challenge was to pare the most important information down to the bare essentials — just enough to demystify voting and help people take a step closer to getting, marking, and casting a ballot.

5 pages of the Pocket Guide for Voters
Virginia’s Pocket Guide for Voters is being adapted to be a tool on ElectionTools.org. It has 8 pages, printed on a single sheet, that fold up into a small brochure.
next
1 of
4 pages of the Virginia's 2016 Voter Guide
Virginia’s Easy Voter Guide was re-imagined as the Pocket Guide. The pocket guide presents the information in the original voter guide as 8 panels.
backnext
1 of
4 sketches of pocket guide
The pocket guide pares down the earlier voter guide to give voters the information they need. These early sketches show the process to identify that information.
backnext
1 of
The pocket guide separates each question into its own page making it easy to understand. We worked to figure out how to best place the information to answer voters' questions.
back
1 of

Virginia was so excited about the pocket guide that they also used the individual pages as cards for social media. We’ve developed a template that any election department can use to customize for your specific voting system, dates, and options. If you use it, please send us your version so we can add it to the showcase!

Resources 

Examples of ocket guides