Design for Democracy: Ballot and Election Design

Marcia Lausen
From the confusing butterfly ballots of the 2000 presidential election in Palm Beach County, Florida to the misaligned punch card layouts of Cuyahoga County, Ohio just four years later, design counts in our elections. Design for Democracy: Ballot and Election Design illustrates real solutions that are poised to improve elections across the country in 2008 and beyond.

The long-awaited book by Marcia Lausen, a founding member of the AIGA strategic initiative Design for Democracy, is an essential advocacy tool for designers and election officials, lawmakers and citizens. Design for Democracy: Ballot and Election Design harnesses the power of design to increase voter confidence, promote government transparency and create an informed—and empowered—electorate. Its prototypes and recommendations have already been used successfully in major Illinois and Oregon elections and are fundamental to AIGA Design for Democracy’s 2007 ballot and polling place design guidelines on behalf of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC).

The book is a co-publication of University of Chicago Press and AIGA.