Having impact – a mid-year update for 2019

Reaching the middle of 2019 means that we are less than a year away from the first elections in 2020. And that was an opportunity to take a look at how our work at the Center for Civic Design is improving the voter experience and helping election officials get ready for this big election cycle.

We have always worked closely with elections offices, improving the design of their information, forms, and processes, but we’re equally focused on helping them become better designers.

In June alone, we worked with election offices in 10 states. Some of those projects were big—like a week-long design sprint or updating all of the Election Day forms for poll workers. Others were smaller—quick consults writing or designing a form or notice. They are all part of our goal of a direct relationship through a project or research with every single state. As of the end of June, we’ve reached a milestone at 33 states or 65% of the country.

We are particularly pleased that we often stay in touch with officials and election advocates in a state, advising and training for new projects or quick problems that need design insights.

When we add up the voters in the states we’ve worked in, we can look at the number of voters our work has touched. Based on 2018 turnout numbers, our partner states represent 39% (46,473,483) of the total voters in 2018. At more than 1 in 3 voters, the percentage is up from about 20% (or 1 in 5 voters) in 2016.

A few more milestones illustrate the impact we’re having:

This fall, we will teach our Election Design course at the University of Minnesota for the 5th time. The students in the certificate program are often election officials who use the course to work on updating their materials for voters, poll workers or candidates.
20 states have adopted automatic voter registration! We join the Center for Secure and Modern Elections in celebrating this major accomplishment that will make it easier for 89,325,256 voting-eligible citizens to register and keep their registration up to date. That’s 38% of potential voters in the United States.

What’s next?

We have worked on the federal Voluntary Voting System Guidelines from the start, focusing on basic requirements that help guarantee every voter a usable and accessible voting experience. As the draft VVSG 2.0 moves forward, we are excited to be working on two other projects that we think will make a difference:

Piloting a uniform, usable design for vote-by-mail envelopes across states that supports voters, election administration, and works with the US Postal Service automation to ensure that ballots reach voters and get back to the elections office accurately.
A demonstration project with Microsoft’s Defending Democracy showing how end-to-end encryption can increase the security of ballots cast at a polling place or vote center with a modern, well-designed ballot marking interface.

All of this is backed up by our research on voter mental models, which includes:

An exploration of the barriers and motivations for new citizens to become voters.
Work to understand voter mental models about voter registration.
Special attention to understanding expectations and attitudes about new voter registration opportunities at social service agencies and DMV offices.
Investigating how voters review and verify ballots, whether they have made their selections with an electronic interface or on a pre-printed ballot.

We would love to hear from you!

What big challenges should we tackle as we plan our work for 2020 and beyond?