Voting rights activists and web designers alike should take a look at the Election Assistance Commission's new best practices for voter information websites [1].
Most of the information to be included on a website seems to be pretty obvious:
- Answers to common voter questions such as “Am I registered to vote?” and “Where do I vote?”
- A mapping service to show polling locations.
- A sample ballot that is identical to the ballot issued for the election.
- Information on the registration and voting process.
But a point later on might be easy to overlook.
- Well designed interfaces that are easy to navigate.
God bless the District of Columbia, but its Board of Elections and Ethics website [2] is kind of a mess. I’m sure they include everything they ought to, but for the life of me, I couldn’t find information about in-person absentee voting and it took me forever to find my sample ballot. I have to imagine that if the site were designed by, say, these guys [3], I’d be able to find everything just fine.
Just one of the many ways in which voting can (and should) be made less cumbersome.