Usability in Civic Life: Voting and Usability

Other Organizations with Voting Projects

There are many other organizations with an interest in voting and usability. Here are some links to organizations and their projects.

US Organizations

• Design for Democracy
  A project of the AIGA creating new designs for election materials. This project has garnered considerable official and media coverage.
• VerifiedVoting.org
  This is an advocacy group for secure election standards. Their site includes information on technical reports and legislation, and an update on voting systems in all of the states.
• National Organization on Disability
  An advocacy organization for voters with disabilities. As part of their Vote 2000 campaign, they prepared a Voting System Accessibility Comparison listing advantages and disadvantages of various systems.
• League of Women Voters
  A good source of information about local elections and election boards. This non-partisan group has been an education and advocacy organization since the 1920's. They are currently circulating a petition for electoral reform that cites "antiquated voting machines and ballot systems that confuse rather than clarify," as some of the voter's grievances from the 2000 election.
• The ACM U.S. Public Policy Committee (USACM)
  This commitee serves as the focal point for ACM's interaction with U.S. government organizations, the computing community and the U.S. public in all matters of U.S. public policy related to information technology. This activity has included testimony in Congress on voting issues. Their site also has good information on communicating with Congress.
• An Election Administrator's Guide to Computerized Voting Systems from the National Center for Voting Technology at ECRI originally published in 1988. This report may be "the nation's only comparative analysis of voting machines, including the Votomatic Machines that use prescored punch-card ballots of the type in dispute in Florida and in other jurisdictions in the current presidential election." Excerpts are published on the web site

International Organizations

• ACE - The Administration and Cost of Elections Project - provides resources on elections and voting systems to countries around the world. It has a good collection of sample ballots from many countries.
• ACE ballot samples ACE has a collection of sample ballots and other materials from elections around the world.
• ACEEEO - Association of Central and Eastern European Electoral Offices - this site includes reports with recommendations on e-voting
• Council of Europe - this project on e-voting has issued recommended standards for voting systems