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Professional review by Hal Miller-Jacobs, Ph.D., CPE,
Managing Director, Human Factors International, Inc.
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Double column
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The layout of double pages with punch holes in between was novel &
unfamiliar. Ballots in previous elections had used only a single column
with punch holes on the right. (In the current ballot, other pages also
had only a single column.) The new double-column layout may have been
disorienting to voters, particularly in the senior population.
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Alignment of the text in each column
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Text in the left column was left-aligned, but text in the right column
was right-aligned. In addition, the right column was positioned slightly
lower than the left column. This made the right column look like supplementary
information, similar to the text in the leftmost column ("Electors
for President and Vice President"). Therefore the right column and
its relationship to the punch holes may not even have been perceived.
Also, the word "Democratic" was more closely aligned with the
punch hole for the Reform Party than with the punch hole for the Democratic
Party.
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Vertical separation and spacing
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There was no quick visual relationship between the boxes and the punch
holes. This problem was exacerbated because the punch holes relating to
the left and right columns were interspersed. The close vertical spacing
of the punch holes created further confusion.
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Arrows and numbers
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The arrows were very small. The distance from the arrows to the punch
holes may have been too great to make the relationship sufficiently clear.
The numbers next to the arrows had no meaning and just added to the general
confusion.
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Stress induced by the voting process
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People wanted to get in to the booths and get out; they may have been
standing in line for a while, aware that others were waiting behind them.
In Florida there is also a 5-minute time limit for voting. Manual dexterity
was required for punching the holes. Taken together these factors may
have produced an anxious or stressful situation, in particular for seniors,
making them more prone to error.
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Conclusion
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The design is error-prone. For the particular case in question, this
could have resulted in the following scenario: someone planning to vote
Democratic might have seen that their party was in the second box and
then just punched the second hole, not noticing that it related to a different
party. This problem might apply not only to a Democratic vote, but also
to a vote for any party further down the ballot on either side.
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See Bob Bailey's newsletter on usability
issues arising from the Palm Beach County ballot
Human Factors International, Inc. (HFI) is the leader in making technology
intuitive and easy-to-use through the application of usability science.
Contact us by phone at 1 (800) 242-4480 or email.
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Past Issues
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