If a legal right is not readable, is it really a right?
A lot of information about elections is required by law. Too often, good legal rights are obscured by legal text written for lawyers and others who can pick their way through a long complicated sentence.
That made us think: if the people who need this information can’t read and understand it, is it really a right? Or is it just legal throat-clearing for the lawyers?
Making legal language more understandable
The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) is a good case in point. Also known as the Motor Voter law, it added voter registration to driver’s license forms. It also requires social service agencies to ask their clients if they want to register to vote. It’s a great idea: catch people during other interactions with the government and make it easy to stay registered, especially for people who may have uncertain housing or move often.
The NVRA also prescribes very specific language that must be included on the form. That’s another great idea: make sure that people’s rights are clearly spelled out. But let’s take a look at the required language and see if it really helps anyone.
If you would like help completing the voter registration application, please contact your local county assistance office or call the toll-free helpline at 1-800-987-5432 (1-800-999-9999 TTY/TTD for individuals with a hearing impairment).
If you believe that someone has interfered with your right to register or to decline to register to vote, your right to privacy in deciding whether to register or in applying to register to vote, or your right to choose your own political party or other political preference, you may file a complaint with the State Department of Elections in Capitol City, 99999 (Toll-free telephone number 1-877-123-4567.)
How many times did you have to read that to really understand it?
But if we just use the “magic trick” of presenting the contacts and rights in a bulleted list, the information becomes clearer, and easier to read. If you like to keep score, it reduces the readability from a post-graduate to middle-school level.
If you would like help completing the voter registration application, you can:
• Contact your local county assistance office
• Call the toll-free helpline at 1-800-987-5432
• Use the TTY/TTD at 1-800-999-9999If you believe that someone has interfered with your:
• right to register or to decline to register to vote
• right to privacy in making this decision
• right to choose your own political partyYou may file a complaint with the State Department of Elections in Capitol City, 99999 (Toll-free telephone number 1-877-123-4567.)
One objection we sometimes hear is that the plain version is longer. Not the word count, but the space it takes up on a tight form or letter. While it’s true that it is 2 lines longer, we think it’s worth it.
All that white space around the short bullets can fool your eye. When text looks open and approachable, people believe that it is easier to read. Even a good program to assess readability doesn’t take that into account…but we should.
Another way to make the text shorter and still clear is to think about whether all of the information is actually needed. Cutting the second paragraph to only the important concept also improves readability and takes up less space than either version.
You have the right to privacy when you register to vote or decide not to. If anyone interferes with that right, you can make a complaint to the Pennsylvania Department of State, Harrisburg, PA 17120. Or call the toll-free number 1-877-VOTESPA.
The take-away:
- Think about what you need to say and how it will be communicated clearly.
- When text is written into law or regulation, let’s make sure that the people who need the information can understand it.
Resources
Field guide vol. 2: Writing instructions voters understand
Hemingway Editor (A free online tool that highlights many plain language criteria such as excess words, passive voice, hard to read sentences, and phrases with simpler alternatives. It color codes problem areas and gives a readability score.)
This was originally published in our Civic Designing newsletter. Subscribe on Mailchimp to get election design tips delivered to your mailbox.