Good design keeps ballot envelopes moving

May 27, 2026

A mail ballot envelope has a lot to accomplish — here's what it takes to design one that works for voters and for USPS.A mail ballot envelope has a lot to accomplish — here's what it takes to design one that works for voters and for USPS.

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.

Asking the right question at the right time

October 27, 2017

Help people answer questions on forms correctly

How can we make requirements clear?

September 22, 2017

We look behind the scenes in The Case of Must v. Shall

Civic designing: tools and templates

September 15, 2017

Free (or super cheap) tools and resources for every part of election administration, from voter information to how you make decisions about voting systems.

Poll workers and empowerment

September 14, 2017

How do you get poll workers with a range of attitudes to deliver a safe, secure, free, and open election for you? Train them. Test them. Trust them.

Modernizing voting system guidelines and testing

September 13, 2017

Updated voting system standards take a big step forward.

Strategies for recruiting poll workers

September 12, 2017

Tips from recent conversations with election officials from California to Colorado to Indiana to Virginia

Celebrating 4 years: Partnering is powerful

September 10, 2017

We formed the Center for Civic Design 4 years ago this week. To all the town, county, state, and federal election officials we've already worked with, thank you!

Meeting voters’ language needs

August 16, 2017

We're learning about supporting voters with low English proficiency. Some of the lessons we've learned so far from research about voter guides.