The “butterfly ballot” is a classic case study that is often used to demonstrate how seemingly minor design details can lead to costly consequences—such as losing a presidential election. By a margin of less than 600 votes, Democratic candidate Al Gore lost Palm Beach County and the entire state of Florida to his Republican counterpart George. W. Bush.

The ballot featured an area for punch holes between two pages of misaligned candidate names, which created an unintuitive experience that directed thousands of voters to accidentally cast their vote for a third party candidate.

Site of confusion on the ballot between Democratic candidate (blue) and third party candidate (red)

This infamous mistake teaches us that good design is more than just making decisions about superficial aesthetics; it can ultimately influence outcomes as fundamental to our society as election results. Many voters had their ballots invalidated due to voting errors such as over-voting, depriving citizens of their chance to voice their opinion in the democratic process.

So how can we design better ballots? These articles from MIT and the Brennan Center for Justice offer some easy-to-adapt suggestions for ballot design:

1. Information Hierarchy: a clear organization of information by relevance can often make or break a ballot. It’s recommended that candidates for the same office be kept on the same column/page, with each contest placed on its individual page for more accurate voting.
2. Typography and spacing: lowercase letters that are left aligned in a unified sans serif font creates a clean, cohesive look that doesn’t create too much visual burden for the voters.
3. Instructions: simple, familiar language supported by effective illustrations help reduce cognitive load and allow voters to focus on who/what they’re voting for. The placement, consistency, and readability of instructions are all critical designing a good ballot.

While many of these proposals may sound intuitive at first, it’s important to note that ballot design is as difficult a design problem as any other. Officials who are by no means trained designers must make decisions abiding by election codes and regulations that restrict the style and wording of ballots—all while keeping in mind the local voting needs and context.

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As you go into the voting booths today and in the future, spend a few moments observing whether or not your ballot checks all of the boxes above!

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Resources

https://electionlab.mit.edu/research/ballot-design

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/common-ballot-design-flaws-and-how-fix-them