What we learned in 2021

2021 was a jam-packed year. Want proof? Scroll through 54 of our highlights in our 2021 year in review. Across our many projects, several lessons stood out. These will continue to guide our work as we get ready for 2022.

As always, our work is aimed at making it easier to vote and supporting election administration in running elections that invite participation. We mix practical work on election materials with research into best practices and why they work. Because democracy is a design problem.

We can make forms that voters can understand

An analysis of the readability of the voter signature forms on mail ballot envelopes and a process for making them easier to understand showed that with plain language (and one simple presentation trick – adding bullets), legally accurate declarations can be brought down from postgraduate levels to high school and even middle school levels.

An excerpt image from a report about the readability of voter oaths from different states. This image shows the grade levels of the current versions of oaths. The majority of states require a college or post-grad reading level to understand

An excerpt image from a report about the readability of voter oaths from different states. This image shows the grade levels of the adjusted versions of oaths after adding bullet points. The majority of states require early or late primary school reading level.

The report on this research by Sean Isamu Johnson includes:

An analysis of the assertions included in the signature forms in 26 states.
A process for transforming the text, which allows election officials to go as far as they can in plain language, gaining benefits at each step
Simply using bullets to break up the clauses in complex sentences can often reduce the complexity to high school reading levels.
Making the text shorter makes it easier to read in the limited space on an envelope, allowing for larger text and wider line-spacing.

In 2022, we are continuing work on ways to simplify text voters have to read – including looking at the language of ballot questions.

Consistent, clear messages about RCV help diverse voters learn a new way to vote

Working with the Rank The Vote NYC coalition, the NYC Campaign Finance Board and the NYC Board of Elections, we helped make the largest introduction of ranked choice voting in the US a success.

Early research with young Black, Latinx and Asian/South Asian voters collected stories about views of government that represent a range of attitudes and behaviors, along with detailed reactions to different styles of information about voter information and ranked choice voting.
Presenting information in bites, snacks, and meals helped voters move from confusion or distrust of RCV to confidence that they could vote effectively.

Excerpt image from a powerpoint presentation. Three quotes from research participants detail their reactions to ranked choice voting. One saw a postcard and said "we are conditioned to think you have to choose 1...so why are we having all these choices?" A reaction to website 1 "I like the idea of choice. Might not use all 5 choices but to have a first and second choice...I like that idea". A reaction to website 2 "said they would be able to vote using RCV 'as long as things are being explained as they are here'"

Working with the Board of Elections, we were able to drive important changes in their materials through weekly meetings and reviews of their work. This may be an important first step in getting a large office to begin to reexamine their designs.
The message – across different groups – of the importance of consistency is now being repeated by others.

In 2022, we are using these lessons to work on ranked choice voting in other states, and exploring how the bite-snack-meal concept can work for other elections information.

Civics information may be a key to engaging new voters and helping elections offices be more responsive to community needs.

In a short project, we explored issues that new voters in Massachusetts’ Gateway Cities face. We learned:

There is a disconnect between perceptions of Massachusetts and lived experiences that don’t reflect democratic values and practices.
“It’s easy to vote” doesn’t mean that people do: pathways to citizenship don’t always lead directly to the voting booth.
There is a lack of quality civic education, but no clear consensus on how to address it. This often leaves candidates and elections offices trying to fill the gap.
Both new candidates and elections offices struggle for the resources and skills they need.

In 2022, we have a full-year project to work in the area. This was our first chance to explicitly explore the ideas in Elections 360 by leading a project explicitly focused on collaboration between community groups and elections.

Design research in several states helped us develop (or solidify) best practices in election design

In our practical research approach, we use every opportunity to create new election materials as an opportunity to learn from voters and election staff how to make them work better.

In Pennsylvania, we tested ways to present options for voters on a “permanent notification list” for mail-in voting. This basic design is applicable to many elections forms where voters have choices between different options, and was used in Maryland on their 2022 request forms. One key is using the strong visual of a QR code and URL to encourage use of the online form over a paper one.
In Vermont, research on cure postcards with town clerks helped us understand how to design them for easier handling at small election offices.
In Georgia, we worked on a form that would make it easier for voters to include identification documents with a form. Although used to implement a repressive law for voting by mail, this concept might also help voters without a DMV number register to vote without needing to present ID documents at their first election.

We are exploring ways of testing visuals – from icons and illustrations to decorative elements – to learn whether they help make information clearer.

We started by testing icons to explain end-to-end encryption in Election Guard in a remote survey-style test, blending UX and market research methods. We continued to develop this research approach with icons for ballot processing in a project for the EAC. We were able to gather useful insights from a larger number of people, following up with in-person interviews.

In 2022, we will continue this work, adding the method to our practice, and expanding it to explore how images and design elements can support cultural adaptation of election material.

We learned a lot about how to work with elections offices effectively.

Our projects in 2021 included very different relationships with teams in Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Vermont, and Washington state.

In 2022, we plan to explore ways to support elections offices with a mix of coaching, training, and tools such as “clinics” so we can scale our reach. We are also developing tools like an InDesign template that builds election forms quickly and saves them for both print and accessible PDFs.