Press, Media, and Publications
Articles by and about the Center for Civic Design
2024
Dear LAist: Why do some elections have more votes than others?
Cato Hernández, LAist (November 18, 2024)
Ballot measures confound, frustrate
Michael Tsai, Spectrum News (November 1, 2024)
Does democracy have a design problem?
Whitney Quesenbery, The Colin McEnroe Show (October 31, 2024)
Understanding Proposal One
Ruby Rayner-Haselkorn, River Reporter (October 30, 2024)
The power of AI to increase access to good jobs for all
Jessica Rafuse, Microsoft Accessibility Blog (October 29, 2024)
Election data made available on Michigan Voting Dashboard
Editorial, The Daily News (October 28, 2024)
Rewrite equal rights ballot question for readability, advocates tell BOE
Johan Sheridan, MSN (October 27, 2024)
Learning Series on Disability-Inclusive Election Technology
Rylin Rodgers, IFES – The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (October 25, 2024)
Tarrant County announces changes to election administration. Here’s what experts think
Emily Wolf, KERA News (October 23, 2024)
Benson launches dashboard with data on Michigan early and absentee voting
Kyle Davidson, Michigan Advance (October 21, 2024)
Last minute tips to help voters navigate unexpected moments while voting
Civic Designing (October 18, 2024)
Election data matter — and no, I don’t just mean results
Hayley Harding (October 17, 2024)
Secretary Benson launches Michigan Voting Dashboard, an interactive tool for the public to access daily election data
Michigan Department of State (October 16, 2024)
Say thank you to your election hero with ready-to-print postcards
Civic Designing (October 9, 2024)
Casting a Ballot for Accessible Voting
Whitney Quesenbery with Alexia Kemmerling (AAPD/REV UP) and Rylin Rodgers (Microsoft Accessibility Policy), podcast from Article 19, hosted by Tamman, (October 9, 2024)
Putting voters in control of ranked choice voting
Civic Designing (October 7, 2024)
How Culturally Relevant Visual Design Can Foster Voter Trust & Engagement
Emma Werowinski and Andrea Miranda Salas, AIGA Design Conference (September 26, 2024)
Chicago Project on Security and Threats and the Brennan Center – Political Violence Webinar
The Elections Group (September 20, 2024) (Signage shown at ~50:30)
Gun Safety Signage and Instructions for Polling Places
Brennan Center for Justice (September 19, 2024)
A ballot in your own language
Share America (September 18, 2024)
Can Elections Ever be Normal Again? These 22 Nonprofit Leaders Have a Plan.
Drew Lindsay, The Chronicle of Philanthropy (September 18, 2024)
Reporting on Ranked Choice Voting in Portland’s 2024 Elections
Shannon Grimes, Sightline Institute (August 5, 2024)
Thousands of Michigan votes may not count in Tuesday primary. Here’s why
Hayley Harding, Bridge Michigan (August 2, 2024)
Settings and Trust: Accessible Settings Design
Barret Anspach, Nearform Commerce (August 1, 2024)
How Microsoft is working with partners and policymakers to advance accessibility as a fundamental right through technology
Microsoft on the Issues (July 26, 2024)
Rewrite equal rights ballot question for readability, advocates tell BOE
Johan Sheridan, News10 ABC (July 25, 2024)
Accessible Digital Form Filler Tool for the National Mail Voter Registration Form (PDF)
Letter to the Election Assistance Commission in response to a request for comment (July 22, 2024)
Comments on the plain language of New York State Proposition One (PDF)
Letter to the New York State Board of Elections (July 2024)
Better design = more culturally responsive voter outreach
Civic Designing (July 18, 2024)
Election Resource Roundup: Creating impactful voter education materials
Allyson Gill, The Elections Group Election Resource Roundup (July 23, 2024)
Equal Rights Amendment tests new New York law on simple ballot wording
Bill Mahoney, Politico Pro (July 16, 2024)
Election Resource Roundup: Communicating election and post-election processes toolkit
Emma Werowinski, The Elections Group Election Resource Roundup (July 1, 2024)
Wisconsin election officials get some clarity on which tasks they’re allowed to outsource
Alexander Shur, Votebeat (June 27, 2024)
Clear and approachable local election content for candidates
Rebecca Woodbury, Department of Civic Things newsletter (June 13, 2024)
Counting the Voters
Northwest Public Broadcasting (June 12, 2024)
Creating accessible civic spaces
Whitney Quesenbery, USWDS Monthly Call – May 2024 Hosted by Digital.gov and the U.S. Web Design System (May 16, 2024)
Pennsylvania sees fewer mail ballots rejected for technicalities, a priority for election officials
Marc Levy, abcNews (May 8, 2024)
Workshops on civic design, in person and online, for election offices across the country
Civic Designing (April 29, 2024)
Presentation: Using information design to express election materials clearly
Emma Werowinski, Kimberly Loseñara, Allyson Gill, League of Women Voters Ohio (April 11, 2024)
Presentation: Introducing a guide to creating poll worker manuals
Evie Lacroix, Tasmin Swanson, Election Huddle in North Carolina (April 10, 2024)
Presentation: Election Excellence in Connecticut
Randy Hadzor, Annual Registrars of Voters Association of Connecticut (April 10, 2024)
New signs feature multiple languages to help voters find polling place
Chad Thompson, WKOW (April 1, 2024)
Panel: Accessibility and elections: How to better serve voters with disabilities
The Elections Group (March 21, 2024)
New design resources to empower poll workers on Election Day
Electionline (March 14, 2024)
Sharon Laskowski wins Election Hero Award from the Center for Civic Design
National Institute of Standards and Technology (March 6, 2024)
Design manuals that empower poll workers on Election Day
Civic Designing (March 4, 2024)
Why Are There Holes In My Mail-In Ballot Envelope?
Brianna Lee, the LAist (March 1, 2024)
Workshop: Democracy is a design problem: Civic design skills to level up your materials
Tasmin Swanson, Randy Hadzor and Evie LaCroix, UtahVOTE (January 24, 2024)
Final Comments: 2024 Election Administration and Voting Survey
American Association of People with Disabilities final comments submitted via regulations.gov (January 15, 2024)
Democracy Works: How election officials are preparing for the year ahead
Tammy Patrick interviewed by Jenna Spinelle, WPSU (January 15, 2023)
2023 Annual Report
Center for Civic Design (January 11, 2023)
DHS sees ‘usability testing’ as central to big burden reduction goals
Justin Doubleday, Federal News Network (January 2, 2024)
2023
Writing for Dollars. Writing to Please: The Case for Plain Language in Business, Government, and Law, by Joseph Kimble
Excerpt in book published by Carolina Academic Press (2023)
Clear, Cohesive, & Credible: Tips on how to create an effective brand identity for your election mail
Tasmin Swanson, Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials Conference (December 11, 2023)
New York adopts a plain language bill for ballot proposals
Civic Designing (December 11, 2023)
Pennsylvania redesigns its mail-in ballots in effort to reduce vote-disqualifying errors
John Paul Titlow, Philly Voice (December 3, 2024)
Changes coming to Pennsylvania mail-in ballot materials
Lara Bonatesta, ABC 27 WHTM (November 29, 2023)
State announces update of mail ballot materials
Jennifer Learn0Andes, Times Leader (November 29, 2023)
Shapiro Administration Introduces Redesigned Mail Ballot Materials To Give Voters Clearer Instructions, Decrease Number Of Rejected Ballots, And Ensure Every Legal Vote Is Counted
Pennsylvania Pressroom (November 29, 2023)
After years of uncertainty around undated ballots, Pa. announces changes to the ballot envelopes to reduce voter errors
Philadelphia Inquirer (November 29, 2023)
College Park elections use new verification technology
Robert Steward, Streetcar Suburbs News (November 9, 2023)
Ballot measures confuse voters
Ruby Rayner-Haselkor, River Reporter (November 7, 2023)
New study: Why ballots are rejected in Washington state and what to do about it
David Hyde, KUOW (NPR) Seattle (November 7, 2023)
Understanding Patterns and Trends in Rejected Mail Ballots in Washington State
Report of the Washington State Ballots Project with Whitney Quesenbery and Fernando Sanchez University of Washington (November 1, 2023)
Ensuring Voting Access Across the Electorate
Lisa Schur (lead author), Mason Ameri, Joseph Dietrich, Michael Herron, Douglas Kruse, Whitney Quesenbery, Melissa Rogers, Jean Schroedel, Daniel Smith, Cameron Wimpy, Mapping Election Administration and Election Science initiative at MIT Election Data + Science Lab (October 2023)
Lane County Elections office says ballots are in the mail
Ryan Bonham, KEZI (October 20, 2023)
WHY IS YOUR BALLOT YELLING AT YOU?
Kaylee Harter, Boulder Weekly (October 19, 2023)
Cybersecurity and Election Administration: Accessibility and Security
US Election Assistance Commission Virtual Panel (October 16, 2023)
Sharon Laskowski, NIST, mentions our paper Administering Accessible Vote by Mail Systems: Challenges and Innovations in Elections Offices
VoteRiders Instagram post showing cards designed by CCD
(October 11, 2023)
Ahead of 2024, we must protect election workers nationwide. Our democracy depends on it.
Board member Kathy Boockvar, The Hill (October 11, 2023)
Berman Champions Elections Bills Signed by Governor
Marc Berman press release (October 10, 2023)
Ensuring Voting Access Across the Electorate
Lisa Schur, Whitney Quesenbery and others. White Paper for MIT Mapping Election Administration and Election Science (October 2023)
College Park officials hope ElectionGuard software will improve trust in elections
The Diamondback (September 29, 2023)
Tech Talk: College Park to use new technology in upcoming election
Amma-Lysa Gayle, DC News Now (September 26, 2023)
Election Center National Conference: Communications & Outreach
Isabelle Yisak and Tasmin Swanson (August 28-30, 2023)
Introducing the Values for Election Excellence
ELECTricity (August 9, 2023)
Wisconsin Elections Commission Open Session Materials
Wisconsin Elections Commission (August 4, 2023)
A presentation of the new envelopes that the WEC designed, incorporating CCD vote-by-mail envelope designs and colors.
Design and text can work together to make RCV election status and results clear
Civic Designing (August 1, 2023)
The next frontier in elections: Microsoft supports the Council of State Governments’ Election Technology Initiative
Ginny Badanes, Microsoft Democracy Forward Initiative (July 28, 2023)
Rockville, MD Mayor and Council Meeting
Whitney Quesenbery and Sean Isamu Johnson (July 17, 2023)
IxDF Master Class with Whitney Quesenbery
Whitney Quesenbery (July 13, 2023)
Take your usability testing to the next level
Civic Designing (June 26, 2023)
Voter Confidence: Communicating Transparency and Confidence in the Election Guard 2022 Pilot
Whitney Quesenbery, 2023 Election Science, Reform, & Administration Conference (June 1, 2023)
Commentary: To boost voter participation, simplify wording on ballots
Susan Lerner and Susan Stamler, Albany Times Union (May 24, 2023)
U.S. Alliance for Elections Excellence Cohort Convening
Whitney Quesenbery, Tasmin Swanson, Evie Lacroix, Asher Kolieboi, Sean Isamu Johnson (May 22-24, 2023)
Libraries, parks and community centers: Go where the people are for usability testing
Civic Designing (May 19, 2023)
Ranked Choice Voting 101 + Design best practices
Whitney Quesenbery, Maryland Association of Elected Officials (May 16, 2023)
Communications Workshop: Techniques for Communicating Election Facts
Emma Werowinski, The Elections Group (May 11, 2023)
Making civic participation accessible for all
Isabelle Yisak and Sean Isamu Johnson, Civilla (May 10, 2023)
Election websites need great headings, accordions, and clear navigation
Civic Designing (April 28, 2023)
Position Statement for California AB 1219 – Improving Ballot Design
Whitney Quesenbery (March 29, 2023)
How to adapt usability testing to fit the needs of your project
CIvic Designing (March 24, 2023)
RCV Resource Center Implementation Symposium Session 3: Technical Implementation
Whitney Quesenbery (March 14, 2023)
Protect the Win: An Advocate’s Guide to Implementing RCV
RCV Resource Center, Represent US, Democracy Rising (March 14, 2023)
Handbook for VVSG 2.0 Usability and Accessibility Test Strategies: A report on guidance and resources for how to test voting systems (NIST VTS 400-5)
Whitney Quesenbery and Sharon Laskowski, NIST (2023)
Administering Accessible Vote by Mail Systems: Challenges and Innovations in Elections Offices (VTS 100-1)
Whitney Quesenbery and Sharon Laskowski, NIST (2023)
Elections for Everyone: Accessible voting in 2023
Whitney Quesenbery, axe-con 2023 (March 15, 2023)
How Microsoft bakes accessibility into everything it touches
Amy Farley, Fast Company (March 2, 2023)
Communication and voter education is key to election innovation
Civic Designing (February 28, 2023)
Ballots and Democracy: A New Scholarly Agenda
Whitney Quesenbery, Seton Hall Law Legislative Law Journal Forum (February 24, 2023)
Election Center Special Workshop: Election Resources and Tools for 2023
Tasmin Swanson (February 23, 2023)
In Focus This Week: The Debrief
Electionline (February 9, 2023)
U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence Debrief Event
Whitney Quesenbery, Emma Werowinski, Evie Lacroix, Tasmin Swanson (February 2-4, 2023)
2022 Annual Report
CCD (January 10, 2023)
Twitter threads for 2023
- Election Guard – March 6
- Why usability testing matters – Feb 13
- RCV – Jan 23
2022
A victory for U.S. democracy
Vanessa Tucker, Hewlett Foundation (November 21, 2022)
Franklin County precinct chosen to pilot new voting software
Teresa Chipman, The Preston Citizen (November 9, 2022)
The Iterative States of America
Karrie Jacobs, Eames Institute Kazam Magazine (November 2, 2022)
Election judges needed; Poring over process
Sheila Kast, WYPR On the Record (October 26, 2022)
We’re excited to announce that we’ve just released 3 new quick guides to help your election offices with language access!
A thread on Twitter @civicdesign (October 26, 2022)
Help for voters with disabilities (#4 on October 24, 2022)
Axios Houston (October 24, 2022)
We’re thrilled to be publishing 3 new topic specific best practice guides for Ranked Choice Voting
A thread on Twitter @civicdesign (October 18, 2022)
Read the fine print: Small text size on Maricopa County’s massive ballots worries voter advocates
Jen Fifield, VoteBeat (October 18, 2022)
Philanthropy to Protect US Democracy
Lukas Haynes, Stanford Social Innovation Review (October 13, 2022)
Creating an Accessible Voting Experience
Electo Analytics, The Nuance Issue 14 (September 29, 2022)
Voter Access Information and Materials
Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (September 20, 2022)
Disability Voting Rights Week
Cathleen Cole, WMNF (September 19, 2022)
New Voting Restrictions Could Make It Harder for 1 in 5 Americans to Vote
Caresse Jackson, Video from Investigate TV (September 13, 2022)
All eyes on absentee voting
Madison Fernandez, Politico (September 12, 2022)
Blurb on AccessibleVoting
How to Fix America’s Confusing Voting System
Aliyya Swaby and Annie Waldman, ProPublica (September 12, 2022)
Because every vote counts: making elections more accessible
Rylin Rogers, Microsoft on the Issues (September 12, 2022)
All eyes on absentee voting
Madison Fernandez, Politico’s Weekly Score (September 12, 2022)
League of Women Voters Texas Action News! September 2022
Joyce LeBombard, LWVTX (September 5, 2022)
Why ballot questions can be so confusing
Chris Stewart, Scripps (September 2, 2022)
Also on Denver 7 ABC
Abdul Dosunmu is Mobilizing One of Black America’s Largest Efforts to Resist Voter Suppression
Fisher Jack, EURWeb.com (August 25, 2022)
To Avoid Disqualified Ballots, Vermont Voters Now Get to Fix Certain Errors
Jack Thurston, NECN (August 2, 2022)
Reflection On The Impact Of Investing In Voter Centric Election Administration and Assessment of Democracy Fund’s Voter Centric Election Administration Portfolio
Heather Creek, Democracy Fund (July 28, 2022)
Making Democracy Robust with 100% Voter Turnout
Divided We Fall (June 15, 2022)
How Texas officials and voting groups are trying to limit mail ballot rejections
Ashley Lopez, NPR Morning Edition (May 24, 2022)
Newsy Investigates: Surge Of Rejected Ballots In Texas
Patrick Terpstra with Whitney Quesenbery (May 23, 2022)
Automatic voter registration rebounds in Georgia after error corrected
Mark Niesse, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (May 23, 2022)
How Texas officials and voting groups are trying to limit mail ballot rejections
Ashley Lopez, NPR Morning Edition (May 24, 2022)
The US Alliance for Election Excellence with Whitney May
High Turnout Wide Margins podcast (May 19, 2022)
What’s next in designing mail ballot envelopes
Whitney Quesenbery and Grace Oh, Election Mail Workshop (May 19, 2022)
Design & Visibility: Designing mail ballot envelopes
Whitney Quesenbery, National Postal Forum (May 18, 2022)
Tackling the Disability Divide and Bridging Societal Gaps to Inclusion
Whitney Quesenbery at Microsoft Ability Summit (May 10, 2022)
Democracy Fund National Convening of State Election Associations’ Meeting
Emma Werowinski, Fernando Sánchez, Tasmin Swanson (May 5-6, 2022)
Introducing the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence
electionline (April 28, 2022)
100% Democracy Research and Design Symposium
Whitney Quesenbery and Tasmin Swanson (April 25, 2022)
Election News This Week: Election Funding
Electionline (April 14, 2022)
Communicating Election and Post-Election Processes Toolkit
Election Assistance Commission developed in collaboration with Emma Werowinski, Clearinghouse Resources for Election Officials (April 13, 2022)
Nonprofit pledges $80 million for local election administration
Amy Gardner, Washington Post (April 12, 2022)
Designing Forms that Help Voters Succeed
Emma Werowinski and Sean Isamu Johnson (March 18, 2022)
How to vote absentee by mail in Georgia under SB 202
Stephen Fowler, GPB, Battleground: Ballot Box (March 9, 2022)
Features the vote by mail request form CCD designed
Changing the narrative: How elections officials can instill faith in voting equipment
M. Mindy Moretti, electionline (February 24, 2022)
UtahVOTE Democracy is a Design Problem
Whitney Quesenbery, Anna Hareseyko, Asher Kolieboi, Emma Werowinski, Sean Isamu Johnson, (January 7, 2022)
2021
What’s In & Out for election administration in 2022
M. Mindy Moretti with Whitney Quesenbery as a contributor, electionline (December 30, 2021)
Design Hacks for Civic Design: Plain Language, Accessibility, and Cross-cultural Communication
Rosenfeld Civic Design Conference, workshop led by entire CCD team (December 14-16, 2021)
Language Access for Voters Summit 2021
Fernando Sánchez at Democracy Fund (December 14, 2021)
More Choice, Less Overwhelm: Introducing Ranked Choice Voting in NYC
Charlotte Levitt, electionline (November 18, 2021)
Language Access for Voters: Webinar on Preparations & Summit Save the Date
electionline (September 16, 2021)
Designing for Elections with Whitney Quesenbery of the Center for Civic Design
Nathaniel G. Pearlman, The Great Battlefield podcast with Whitney Quesenbery (July 5, 2021)
NIST releases RFI on accessibility: RFI focuses on 20 specific types of information
M. Mindy Moretti, electionline (June 24, 2021)
Voting is for All Americans, Including Those Living Abroad
National Conference of State Legislatures, CCD research referenced (June 30, 2021)
Walking the line: New Jersey Ballots, Candidates and Voters
A panel discussion from the Eagleton Institute of Politics and the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy (June 24, 2021)
Designing elections that work for us all
Whitney Quesenbery at the League of Women Voters of Baltimore City’s annual meeting (June 1, 2021)
Explaining Rights to Returning Citizens
Whitney Quesenbery, Michigan Bar Journal (May 2021); reprinted from The Clarity Journal, No. 81 (2020)
Brave UX
Brendan Jarvis with Whitney Quesenbery (May 24, 2021)
Curb cuts for voting: Making elections accessible to all
Whitney Quesenbery at Knowbility Access U (May 19, 2021)
NYC Votes Website Launch
NYC Campaign Finance Board and Voter Assistance Advisory Commission promotional video (May 14, 2021)
Comments on the Federal Postcard Application and Write-in Ballot
to the Federal Voting Assistance Program for the periodic review of the FPCA and FWAB (May 5, 2021)
Chax Chat Accessibility Podcast
Chad Chelius and Dax Castro interview Whitney Quesenbery (May 4, 2021)
Democracy as a Design Problem
Fluid Hive’s Design Thinking 101 podcast with Whitney (April 28, 2021)
Equity Centered Design
Northeastern University, Khoury College of Computer Science’s State of the Culture panel with Asher Kolieboi (April 8, 2021)
California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) Digital Transparency Task Force
Testimony at March task force meeting from 9:27-25:21; followed by Q&A (March 19, 2021)
Surfacing Episode 1: Whitney Quesenbery on Election Ballot Design
Surfacing podcast (March 13, 2021)
Report: Digital Tools for a Responsive Government
Columbia World Projects Workshop – CCD participated (March 12, 2021)
Designing Elections Materials with Whitney Quesenbery
High Turnout Wide Margins podcast (Mar 3, 2021)
Experts offer advice as Alaska prepares for first ranked-choice election next year
Eric Stone, KRBD talked to Christopher Patten (Mar 3, 2021)
Why so few absentee ballots were rejected in 2020
Nathaniel Rakich, FiveThirtyEight (Feb 17, 2021)
Accessibility, personas and more (including elections)
Copy Cats podcast with Whitney Quesenbery (Feb 17, 2021)
2020
Good design is the secret to better democracy (Ballots are broken. We redesigned them.)
Part of a visual series from NY Times Opinion
Whitney Quesenbery with Tala Schlossberg, NY Times (October 29, 2020)
It’s all in the details: Why accessible voting materials matter
Irene Bantigue, Impact Hub Baltimore (October 29, 2020)
Why do so many Americans not know how to vote?
Annalisa Merelli, Quartz (October 28, 2020)
The Tech Behind Mail-In Balloting (video)
NOVA | PBS with Anna Haraseyko, Jessenia Eliza, Whitney Quesenbery (October 27, 2020)
Yes, the lines are long. But voting is actually easier than ever
Dana Chisnell, Fast Company (October 27, 2020)
Power Up: These anonymous public servants are playing a huge role in making sure your vote counts
Jacqueline Alemany, Washington Post (October 26, 2020)
GO VOTE! Social Media and the US 2020 Election
The Radical AI Podcast with Shannon McGregor and Whitney Quesenbery (October 21, 2020)
Why it’s so hard to fix America’s poorly-designed election ballot
Anne Quito, Quartz (October 20, 2020)
Thank you to our election officials (video)
Brennan Center and Microsoft Defending Democracy (October 16, 2020)
Election Tech That’s Super Simple
Shira Ovide, NY Times (October 19. 2020)
How North Carolina’s mail-in envelope got a new, easier-to-use look
Bonnie Berkowitz, Washington Post (October 15, 2020)
How to beat bad ballot design and make sure your vote counts
Bonnie Berkowitz, Washington Post (October 15, 2020)
How smart design is strengthing our elections
Meaghan O’Neill, Architectural Digest (October 14, 2020)
How vote-by-mail envelope design can facilitate elections (print version)
ProPublica (October 13, 2020)
Will ballot design affect presidential election in Florida? An expert takes a look
Martin Vassolo, Miami Herald (October 6, 2020)
Is our ballot well designed?
Jenny Rosenberg, Washingtonian (October 2020)
Ballots are inexplicably confusing. Here are 4 tips for filling yours out correctly.
Lilly Smith, Fast Company (September 29, 2020)
Michigan chooses simple design for absentee ballots
Grant Hermes, WDIV-TV (September 25, 2020)
Can the ballots thrown out in the primaries be saved in November?
Larry Buchanan and Alicia Parlapiano, The Upshot, NY Times (September 23, 2020)
Explaining rights to returning citizens
Whitney Quesenbery, The Clarity Journal #81 (September 2020)
IDEA Bronze Award for Social Impact Design to ElectionGuard Voting Machine
Tucker Viermeister, Viermeister Industries; Ed Wood, Israel Fuentes, Jean-Pierre Mutti, Radii; Whitney Quesenbery, Center for Civic Design (Jump to 38:00 in the awards video)
Industrial Design Society of America (September 16, 2020)
Absentee ballot drop boxes, envelopes big problem for Detroit, advocates say
Clara Hendrickson, Detroit Free Press (August 27, 2020)
New York Board of Elections adds quick fix to mail-in ballots
Carl Campanile, New York Post (August 10, 2020)
Universal Voting: Your questions, our answers
E.J. Dionne, Jr., Megan Bell, Amber Herrle, Shane P. Singh, Allegra Chapman, Joshua Douglas, Miles Rapoport, and Whitney Quesenbery. The Brookings Institution (August 6, 2020)
Lift Every Voice: The Urgency of Universal Civic Duty Voting and
Working Group on Universal Voting – The Brookings Institution and The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School (July 20, 2020)
Ballot envelope design best practices
Blog post and webinar for APTech (June 19, 2020)
The truth about vote-by-mail and fraud
PBS NewsHour (June 9, 2020)
Voting rights, public health officials roll out guidelines to protect voters from COVID-19
Maggie Miller, The Hill (May 28, 2020)
Poorly designed ballots lead to thousands of undercounted votes each year
Danielle Kunitz, Washington Post Video Opinion (May 18, 2020)
States Begin Prep for Mail-In Voting in Presidential Election
Matt Vasilogambros, Pew Trusts Stateline (March 23, 2020)
The most pervasive ballot design flaw you don’t notice
Lilly Smith, Fast Company (March 2, 2020)
Will L.A.’s Voting Overhaul Be An Industry Disrupter Or The Next Election Debacle?
Tierney Sneet, Talking Points Memo (February 21, 2020)
Getting tech right in Iowa and elsewhere requires insight into data, human behavior
Hollie Russon Gilman, Tara Dawson McGuinness, Tech Crunch (February 13, 2020)
Experience by Design Podcast: Voter Experience and Civic Design
Host Gary David with Whitney Quesenbery (February 5, 2020)
CCD Expert Testimony on Maryland SB56 and HB140 – Simplified Ballot Language
(January 28, 2020)
LA’s New Voting System Is Still Uncertified. Why Election Security Experts Are Worried
Libby Denkmann, LAist (January 16, 2020)
CCD Letter of Support for the Accessible Voting Act
(January 15, 2020)
CCD Comments on Los Angeles County VSAP 2.0 for California Certification
OVSTA Hearing (January 10, 2020)
A Maryland bill would set new guidelines for describing proposals put on the ballot in plain language
Bill Lucia, Route 50 (January 6, 2020)
2019
Cybersecurity Risks Cast Shadow on Nevada’s 2020 Democratic Presidential Caucuses
Steven Rosenfeld, Voting Booth (December 14, 2019)
How bad ballot design can sway the result of an election
Spenser Mestel, The Guardian (November 19, 2019)
Build for Everyone: Accessibility, the future, and why Domino’s matter
Kate Cox, ArsTechnica (October 20, 2019)
What Happened When 2.2 Million People Were Automatically Registered To Vote
Nathaniel Rakich, FiveThirtyEight (October 10, 2019)
Why over 130,000 new voting machines could lead to more distrust in U.S. elections
Steven Rosenfeld, Salon (October 8, 2019)
ElectionGuard available today to enable secure, verifiable voting
Tom Burt, Microsoft on the Issues (September 24, 2019)
Tucker Viermeister designs ElectionGuard ballot machine to make voting more secure
Bridget Cogley, Dezeen (July 18, 2019)
Why a 2020 primary vote-by-phone scheme could be a huge mess
Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet (July 16, 2019)
ClearMark award for the Virginia Department of Elections’ What ifs: a complete guide for helping voters with exceptional situations
Best Before and After Print Document
Center for Plain Language (May 6, 2019)
What’s your brand?
Mindy Moretti, ElectionLine (March 21, 2019)
UX Chat with Whitney Quesenbery, Co-Founder at Center for Civic Design, on Designing for Accessible UX
OJ Quevdo, BetterUX/UserZoom (March 21, 2019)
Bad ballot design may have changed Florida’s election outcome. But there’s an easy fix
Caitlin Ostroff and David Smiley, Miami Herald (February 28, 2019)
What makes an effective elections website?
Kurt Sampsel, Electionline (February 28, 2019)
Secretary Benson convenes Election Modernization Advisory Committee to advance election reform
Michigan Secretary of State’s Office (February 20, 2019)
Lift One is not a yes-or-no question
Meredith Carroll, Aspen Times (February 20, 2019)
Voting as a Part of Everyday Life: Insights from Whitney Quesenbery
The Rosenfeld Media Review Podcast (January 11, 2019)
2018
The Powerful Role Confusion Plays In American Elections
Kira Lerner, Talking Points Memo (TPM) (December 28, 2018)
Reflections on the Election Audit Summit
Clair De Soi, Electionline (December 13, 2018)
Webinar: Testing Voter Registration Modernizations
Dana Chisnell, Suzanne Chapman, Whitney Quesenbery, CTCL (December 11, 2018)
Chain Letters: Dana Chisnell
Lilly Smith, Design Observer, AIGA (November 30, 2018)
Can Design Save Democracy?
Kristin Maija Peterson, Grand Ciel Design (November 28, 2018)
How to avoid more Florida recounts
Trey Greyson, Inside Sources (November 29, 2018)
Why Are So Many Election Ballots Confusing?
Rebecca Ellis, NPR’s All Things Considered (November 24, 2018 5:36 pm)
How a ballot’s design can impact elections
Kellan Howell, Newsy (November 16, 2018)
Also linked from NewsChannel 5 KSHB Kansas City and other stations
How a badly designed ballot might have swayed the election in Florida
Dana Chisnell and Whitney Quesenbery, Washington Post (November 12, 2018)
Expert: How Ballot Design Could Impact Broward County Election Results
Alexander Gonzalez, WLRN/WJCT Public Media (November 12, 2018)
If this feels familiar, you’re right. Here’s what to expect from the Florida recount — 2018 edition
Skyler Swisher, LA Times (November 12, 2018)
Glitches delay start of Florida recount for senator, governor
Danielle Haynes, UPI (November 11, 2018)
As Florida recounts loom, flawed ballot design may be to blame for questionable voting patterns in Broward County
Stephen Hobbs, Skyler Swisher and Aric Chokey, South Florida Sun Sentinel (November 9, 2018)
Connecticut Democrats Ride A ‘Blue Wave’ In Midterm Elections|
Carmen Baskauf & Lucy Nalpatchanchil, Connecticut Public Radio (November 8, 2018)
The High Stakes of Voter Ballot Design
Spenser Mestel, AIGA Eye on Design (November 5, 2018)
Stop blaming millennials for not voting. Blame America’s system
Will Bunch, The Philadelphia Inquirer (November 2, 2018)
Mail-In Ballot Postage Becomes a Surprising (and Unnecessary) Cause of Voter Anxiety
Susie Armitage, ProPublica Electionland (November 1, 2018)
The Informed Voter’s Guide to Making Sure Your Vote Counts
Ally J. Levine, ProPublica (October 30, 2018)
The Systems of Elections: Explainer for people in a hurry
Medium, Civic Designing (October 29, 2018)
Getting the work done: What government innovation really looks like
Hana Schank, Sara Hudson, New America (October 16, 2018)
Voter apathy is not a given
Dana Chisnell, The Commons (October 10, 2018)
The long and the short of it: Jurisdictions dealing with particularly long ballots this election
M. Mindy Moretti, electionlineWeekly (October 4, 2018)
Wanted: Older Adults to Serve as Poll Workers
Also reprinted as: Here’s one way to do your part for democracy
Kevyn Burger, Next Avenue (September 21, 2018)
CCD on “How Journalism Can Help People Register to Vote”
Doug Chapin, Election Academy (September 20, 2018)
These UX Designers are Rethinking the Voter Ballot
Emily Ludolph, 99U (September 13, 2018)
Voting, Beautifully: How voter guide design makes a huge difference in elections
Martin Austermuhle, WAMU (June 14, 2018)
Remote ballot marking: Risks and rewards
NCSL’s The Canvass (June 2018)
CTCL Brings Together Election Officials and Other Experts to Discuss Voter Registration Modernization
Report on a project workshop that CCD facilitated (May 31, 2018)
Designing Ranked Choice Voting for Voters
Chris Hughes talked to Whitney Quesenbery in a podcast with the RCV Resource Center (May 24, 2018)
Informed RCV voters from start to finish
Whitney Quesenbery presented at From Idea to Implementation: Ranked Choice Voting and Voting Systems Symposium – Session 5 (April 24, 2018)
Virginia to adopt new ballot guidelines after confusing 2017 elections
Report on work in Virginia by Max Smith, WTOP (March 14, 2018)
2017
Rules of Engagement: Design Principles for Civic Dialogue in a Post-Truth Era
A report by FrontEnd/DesignFix with a contribution by Whitney Quesenbery (October 24, 2017)
Whitney Quesenbery’s UX Tips for 2017
Los Angeles UX Newsletter (December 2017)
By Design: Transforming public sector services speaker series
Digital service standards: What are they and why are they valuable
“The right to understand” – Whitney Quesenbery (page 64)
Philadelphia Accessible City (July 27, 2017)
Why accessibility should be at the center of your work
Hadassah Damien, Participatory Budgeting (June 27, 2017)
Democracy Has a Design Problem
“What exactly do you do when you go to a polling place?”
Whitney Quesenbery, The Atlantic (May 17, 2017)
New details emerge in theft of Georgia voting machines
Christopher Wallace, FoxNews.com (April 18, 2017)
Center for Civic Design – Case Study
Scout Books (March 2017)
America Has Its Problems, But Design Can Help Solve Them
Liz Stinson and Margaret Rhodes, WIRED (February 1, 2017)
2016
ParticipationLab Panel: Centering Accessibility in Creating and Choosing Tools
Participatory Budgeting Webinar. Whitney Quesenbery with Lawrence Grodeska, Civic Makers, Isabel Luciano, Participatory Budgeting Project, Brooks Rubin, Baltimore Algebra Project (December 12 2016)
Understanding Who Makes Democracy Work: A Call for an Ethnography of our Poll Workers
by Emily Herrick, ReBoot (November 14, 2016)
Center for Civic Design Pushes for an easier, standardized ballot
Peter Lawlor, Pasquines (November 7, 2016)
The Art of the Vote: Who Designs the Ballots We Cast?
Dana Chisnell interviewed on NPR Weekend Edition Sunday, (November 6, 2016)
Ballot Measures Need to Be Written in Plain Language
by Whitney Quesenbery and Dana Chisnell
New York Times Room for Debate: Why are ballot measures so confusing (November 3, 2016)
Rigged by Design: How ballots lose votes
by Lisa Wade, PhD, Sociological Images/The Society Pages (November 2, 2016)
Democracy is a Design Problem
by Dana Chisnell at TEDNYC 2016, TEDArchive. (November 1, 2016)
Omaha Company Plays Big Role in Ballot Design
by Don Granese. WOWT Channel 6 News (October 31, 2016)
The Election Isn’t Rigged, It’s Just Poorly Designed
Dana Chisnell on Presentable with Jeff Veen (October 28, 2016)
‘RI’ers Can Trust Integrity Of Elections,’ Says Sec. Of State Gorbea Amid Concerns Of Voter Fraud
John Bender. Rhode Island Public Radio (October 27, 2016)
Disenfranchised by Bad Design
by Lena Groeger. ProPublica (October 20, 2016)
America desperately needs automatic voter registration
by Chris Weller. Business Insider (October 20, 2016)
Preparing For Write-Ins: Advice From The Center On Civic Design
by Doug Chapin. Election Academy (October 18, 2016)
11 ways to get more people to vote, according to designers
by Dana Varinsky. Business Insider (October 7, 2016)
Designing a Better Ballot: Even small tweaks can have a significant effect on an election
by Adrienne LaFrance. The Atlantic (October 5, 2016)
A Tool for Capturing Essential Preferences (journal article)
by Dana Ayotte and others, including Nancy Frishberg, and Whitney Quesenbery
ASSETS 2016, October 2016, Reno, Nevada
By the People: Designing a Better America
Cynthia E. Smith, Cooper Hewitt Publications (September 2016)
Why design matters in the context of government
Molly Millette, Core 77, writing about Better World By Design and Dana Chisnell’s presentation about the Anywhere Ballot at Rhode Island School of Design (September 23-25, 2016)
Building a civic engagement toolkit for election officials
Government Innovators Network webinar – Ash Center at Harvard Kennedy School with Whitney May, Gerri Kramer, Whitney Quesenbery and Hollie Russon Gilman (September 7, 2016)
Democracy is a Design Problem (Invited Essay)
by Dana Chisnell UXPA Journal of Usability Studies, Vol. 11, Issue 4 (August 2016)
Making Voting by Mail Usable, Accessible, and Inclusive
byKathryn Summers, Whitney Quesenbery, and Amy Pointer Advances for Design in Inclusion – AHFE 2016, Orlando, FL (August 2016).
Designing for Democracy
Future of California Elections webinar with Gail Pellerin, Ben Hamatake, Allison Denofrio, Whitney Quesenbery and Astrid Garcia Ochoa (August 17, 2016)
Automatic Voter Registration: Two NVRA-Compliant Models
by Nidhi Shah, Project Vote, July 2016
Plain language analysis by Whitney Quesenbery
Election Toolkit launches: Free and low-cost tech tools will help promote civic engagement nationwide
by Whitney May, ElectionlineWeekly, June 16, 2016
Also in Election Academy blog, Doug Chapin, June 17, 2017
Ballot design pro helps prevent election snafus
by Valerie Richardson, The Washington Times, June 15, 2016
Ballot Design, Looff Hippodrome, Earthquake Preparedness
KCRW’s Design and Architecture, June 7, 2016
Designing Ballots for Tomorrow
by Natalie Adona, Democracy Fund, June 6, 2016
Douglas County’s clean, simple ballot is a model for how design can serve democracy
by Erin Grace, Omaha.com, May 10, 2016
Cooper Hewitt to present “By the People: Designing a Better America”
April 2016
Why are Election Ballots So Confusing: Blame Times New Roman … and a bunch of other factors
by Jaime Fuller, MTV News, April 22, 2016
2015
Butterfly Effects: Episode 187
99% Invisible, with Roman Mars, November 1, 2015
The Astounding Reason Many People Don’t Know What They’re Voting For
Democracy Has a Design Problem. How to Solve It? Write More Clearly
by Katie Wudel, Good, July 29, 2015
The new Knight News Challenge winners want to make voting easier and election data clearer
by Justin Ellis, Nieman Lab, July 22, 2015
Ballot Design Matters. Really.
by Donya Khalili on Indivisible, 2015
Empowering Officials and Informing Voters with Digital Tools: An interview with the Center for Technology and Civic Life
The Democracy Fund, 2015
Poll Workers and Election Integrity: Security as if People Mattered (conference paper)
HAS2015, at HCI International 2015, Los Angeles, CA
Whitney Quesenbery and Dana Chisnell (August 5-7 2015)
California Voter Information Guides
by Drew Davies, Oxide Design Co, July 13, 2015
Calif. Bill SB 505 Clears State Senate – Requires Voter Bill of Rights to be Written in Plain Language
by Christopher Simmons, California Newswire (May 15, 2015)
Speaking With, Writing For
by Whitney Quesenbery, Civic Quarterly Issue 3, Spring 2015
Joint Oversight Hearing Statement on Statewide Voter Turnout
Testimony by Jennifer Pae, League of Women Voters of California Education Fund (March 25, 2015)
Inside the Shop – Field Guides
by Cassie Robinson, Civic Workshop (February 22, 2015)
2014
The next generation of civic designers: Bringing light into the darkness
by Dana Chisnell, Medium, November 18, 2014
Saving the (Election) Day
by Dana Chisnell, Civic Quarterly, Issue 1, Fall 2014
Ballot-Measure Wording Often Unclear, Incomplete
by Hilary Gowins in Huffington Post, August 12, 2014
Making Voting Accessible: Designing Digital Ballot Marking for People with Low Literacy and Mild Cognitive Disabilities.
by Kathryn Summers, Dana Chisnell, Drew Davies, and others. USENIX Journal of Election Technology and Systems (JETS), 2:2, April 2014
Why We Vote: A qualitative investigation of attitudes about participation in elections by young adults
Whitney Quesenbery’s dissertation submitted for the MSc in Social Research Methods, Open University, March 2014
The Death of the Hanging Chad: How to Build a Better Ballot
by Kristina Dell on Nationswell.com, February 24, 2014
2013 and earlier
Usability of County Election Websites
By Cyd Harrell, Andrea Fineman, Ethan Newby, Dana Chisnell, and Whitney Quesenbery
HCI International 2013, Las Vegas, NV (August 2013)
Accessible Voting in 2012.
by Whitney Quesenbery, Information Technology and Disabilities Journal, XIII:1 (April 2013)
Redesigning the Vote
by Jimmy Stamp, Smithsonian.com, November 6, 2012
Better Design, Better Elections.
Larry Norden, Whitney Quesenbery, and David Kimball, D. The Brennan Center for Justice (2012)
Counter to Intent. Voters’ Mental Models of Alternative Counting Methods
By Dana Chisnell, EVT/WOTE 2012, Bellevue, WA, USA (August 2012)
Voting in New York City: Why is Ballot Design so Hard to Get Right?
by Whitney Quesenbery and Dana Chisnell, UXPA User Experience Magazine, 10(2) (Spring 2011)
Testing Usability Performance of Voting Systems: Screening, Background, and Post-Study Question Bank
by Sarah Swierenga, Graham Pierce, Whitney Quesenbery, Gregg Vanderheiden. National Institute of Standards and Technology, (2011)
Chisnell, D. (2010). Looking at accessibility as a design problem. Interactions: New Visions Of Human-Computer Interaction, 17(5), 43.
Just what the heck is our government trying to tell us?
Joe Davidson, Washington Post (November 10, 2010)
Testing Usability Performance of Voting Systems: Reference Questionnaires
by Sarah Swierenga, Graham Pierce, Whitney Quesenbery, Gregg Vanderheiden, National Institute of Standards and Technology. (2010)
Report of Findings: Use of Language in Ballot Instructions (NISTIR 7556)
Redish, J. G., Chisnell, D. E., Newby, E., Laskowski, S. J., & Lowry, S. (2009).
Style guide for voting system documentation: Why user-centered documentation matters to voting security
by Dana Chisnell, Susan Becker, Sharon Laskowski, and Svetlana Lowry
EVT/WOTE 2009, Montreal, Canada
Better Ballots
by Lawrence Norden, David Kimball, Whitney Quesenbery, and Margaret Chen, M.
The Brennan Center for Justice, 2008