With the recent troubles in U.S. elections, there has been a nationwide push to update voting systems. States and localities are investing heavily in electronic voting systems, many of which use a touch screen. These systems offer the promise of faster and more accurate voting; however, the current reality is that they have some shortcomings in terms of voter usability. This study examines issues related to the usability of electronic voting systems and reports on a series of usability studies that involved expert review, close observation, a field test, and an exit poll to learn voters’responses to a new voting system. Our analysis shows these systems work well; however, they have some shortcomings including some that have raised concerns among a minority of voters.
Allen, P. L. (1906). Ballot laws and their workings. Political Science Quarterly, 21, 38-58.
2.
Ansolabehere, S., & Stewart, C., III. (in press). Voting technology and uncounted votes in the United States. Journal of Politics.
3.
Babbie, E. (1990). Survey research methods. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
4.
Bain, H. M., & Hecock, D. S. (1957). Ballot position and voters choice. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press.
5.
Beard, C. A. (1909). The ballot’s burden. Political Science Quarterly, 24, 589-614.
6.
Bederson, B. B., Lee, B., Sherman, R., Herrnson, P. S., & Niemi, R. G. (2003). Electronic voting system usability issues. CHI Letters, 5(1), 145-152.
7.
Bowler, S., Donovan, T., & Happ, T. (1992). Ballot propositions and information costs: Direct democracy and the fatigued voter. Western Political Quarterly, 45, 559-568.
8.
Bullock, C. S., III, & Dunn, R. E. (1996). Election roll-off: A test of three explanations. Urban Affairs Review, 32, 71-86.
9.
Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project. (2001). Residual votes attributable to technology: An assessment of the reliability of existing voting equipment. Available at www.vote.caltech.edu/Reports
10.
Campbell, A., Converse, P. E., Miller, W. E., & Stokes, D. E. (1960). The Americanvoter. New York: John Wiley.
11.
Darcy, R. (1986). Position effects with party column ballots. Western Political Quarterly, 39, 648-662.
12.
Darcy, R., & McAllister, I. (1990). Ballot position effects. Electoral Studies, 9, 5-17.
13.
Darcy, R., & Schneider, A. (1989). Confusing ballots, roll-off, and the Black vote. Western Political Quarterly, 42, 347-364.
14.
Election Data Services Inc. (2000). 2000 voting equipment report. Available at www.electiondataservices.com/2000Voting%20Equipment%20Reports.pdf
15.
Epstein, L. (1986). Political parties in the American mold. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
16.
Ericsson, A., & Simon, H. (1993). Protocol analysis: Verbal reports as data (2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
17.
Herrnson, P. S., Niemi, R. G., Horowitz, J. M., Richman, S., Bederson, B. B., Conrad, F., et al. (2003). Characteristics of contemporary voting machines. Available at www.capc.umd.edu/rpts/md_evote_ContempVotingMach.pdf
18.
Key, V. O., Jr. (1956). American state politics. New York: Knopf.
19.
Kimball, D. C., Owens, C., & McAndrew, K. (2002). Unrecorded votes in the 2000 presidential election. Unpublished manuscript, University of Missouri-St. Louis.
20.
Kohno, T., Stubblefield, A., Rubin, A., & Wallach, D. (2004, May 10). Analysis of an electronic voting system. Paper presented at the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, Oakland, CA.
21.
Krosnick, J. A., Miller, J. M., & Tichy, M. P. (2004). An unrecognized need for ballot reform: The effects of candidate name order on election outcomes. In A. N. Crigler, M. R. Just, & E. J. McCaffery (Eds.), Rethinking the vote:The politics and prospects of American election reform (pp. 51-74). New York: Oxford University Press.
22.
Kubeck, J. E., Delp, N. D., Haslett, T. K., & McDaniel, M. A. (1996). Does job-related training performance decline with age?Psychology and Aging, 11, 92-107.
23.
League of Women Voters. (2003). Questions and answers on direct recording electronic (DRE) voting systems. Available at www.aapd-dc.org/dvpmain/paperballot/downloads/LWV%20HAVA%20DRE.pdf
24.
Miller, J. M., & Krosnick, J. A. (1998). The impact of candidate name order on election outcomes. Public Opinion Quarterly, 62, 291-330.
25.
Mueller, J. E. (1970). Choosing among 133 candidates. Public Opinion Quarterly, 34, 395-402.
26.
National Voter Independence Project. (2001). Voting reform. Available at www.halftheplanet.com/departments/vote/intro.html
27.
Nichols, S. M. (1998). State referendum voting, ballot roll-off and the new electoral technology. State and Local Government Review, 30, 106-117.
28.
Nichols, S. M., & Strizek, G. A. (1995). Electronic voting machines and ballot roll-off. American Politics Quarterly, 23, 300-318.
29.
Nielsen, J. (1993). Usability engineering. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
30.
Pfeifer, S. (2004, May 29). State asked to rethink e-voting decision. Los Angeles Times, pp. B13.
31.
Riviere, C. N., & Thakor, N. V. (1996). Effects of age and disability on tracking tasks with a computer mouse: Accuracy and linearity. Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, 33, 6-16.
32.
Robinson, J. A., & Standing, W. H. (1960). Some correlates of participation:The case of Indiana. Journal of Politics, 22, 96-111.
33.
Roth, S. K. (1998). Disenfranchised by design: Voting systems and the election process. Information Design Journal, 9, 1-8.
34.
Rusk, J. G. (1970). The effect of the Australian ballot reform on split ticket voting. American Political Science Review, 64, 1220-1238.
35.
Schulte, B. (2003, July 25). Md. voting system’s security challenged. Washington Post, pp. B01-B01.
36.
Sinclair, R. C., Mark, M. M., Moore, S. E., Lavis, C. A., & Soldat, A. S. (2000). An electoral butterfly effect. Nature, 408, 665-666.
37.
Taebel, D. A. (1975). The effect of ballot position on electoral success. American Journal of Political Science, 19, 519-526.
38.
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. (2001). Voting irregularities in Florida during the 2000 presidential election. Available at www.usccr.gov
39.
Walker, J. L. (1966). Ballot forms and voter fatigue: An analysis of the office block and party column ballots. Midwest Journal of Political Science, 10, 448-463.
40.
Wand, J. N., Shotts, K. W., Sekhon, J. S., Mebane, W. R., Herron, M. C., & Brady, H. E. (2001). The butterfly did it: The aberrant vote for Buchanan in Palm Beach County, Florida. American Political Science Review, 95, 793-810.
41.
Zetter, K. (2003, October 29). E-vote software leaked online. Wired News. Available at www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,61014,00.html
