Please tell us about your voting experience this general election year.
As graphic designers, we are seeking to streamline, simplify and clarify the voting experience for all US citizens. By sharing your experiences, good and bad, you will help inform our design process.
Things to think about:
-Was it easy or difficult to find your polling place?
-When you got to your polling place, did you know where to start?
-Were the lines long or short?
-Which voting system did you use (paper ballot or electronic)?
-Were the instructions on how to fill in the ballot clear?
-Did you know how to cast your ballot or did you need to ask for assistance?
-Were the pollworkers friendly and informed?
thanks!!!
gretchen and cheyenne
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
i'm trying to decide the best time to go vote tomorrow.....
ReplyDeleteGiven that voters in New York were out in unprecedented droves, the whole experience was surprisingly orderly (if long). I appeared at my local polling place at 7:45am, at which point the line wrapped 3/4 of the way around the block; this translated to roughly 2 hours spent in line before being let into the building. Everyone was surprisingly relaxed about it, which was nice--it could have easily devolved into a complete and utter melee.
ReplyDeleteOnce we made it inside (and they were very regimented about how many people could be inside at a time, which helped avoid the dreaded mob scene), everyone I spoke to was extremely friendly and helpful; my name provoked a little confusion, but once that was sorted out everything ran smoothly, including the voting machine itself (oh, how i love the satisfying KA-CHUNK of the lever).
I get very emotional about voting, and so today nearly did me in: everyone was so pleased and proud to be a part of the process, so driven to stand up and be counted...I've never seen anything like it. It made me feel--dare i say it--hopeful.
wow! you guys still have levers, shiv? that's crazy. well, i also had a pretty good experience but i think that was mostly because there were only 5 people voting when i went. if there were long lines, the whole system would have been chaos.
ReplyDeletewe have a few precincts at each polling place in chicago. so unless you're savvy enough to know your precinct and are able to read the lightly scribbled precinct number on the map behind each of the lines, you're most likely going to end up in the wrong line. i made this error as did the 3 people behind me and we all had to shuffle over to a different line.
there, a very nice and personable, albeit absurdly slow, election worker looked for my name in a big book. this took quite awhile and if there were hundreds of people in line, i could imagine quite a fiasco ensuing.
then they gave me my ballot and i went over to the little booth and filled it in.
one thing that i noticed was that there were no clear instructions on overvoting or undervoting. the reason this is relevant in chicago is we have dozens of judges on the ballot and we're supposed to vote for whether or not they should be retained. since my guess is that not a whole lot of people have any idea who these judges are, they may want to leave those areas blank. well, there should be instructions somewhere saying that your ballot will still count even if you don't vote for all the races.
finally, the layout of the polling place could have used some work. the signage was haphazardly thrown up on the walls. the ballot counter was placed before the poll booths instead of after so it wasn't immediately obvious where you took your ballot after voting. and the booths weren't very private. too small; no curtains.
all that being said. it was still fun!!
New Lenox IL is a model for efficient voting. Orderly lines that keep moving, paper and bubble ballots that any literate person should be able to utilize, and friendly, professionals to help out. The polling place is extremely well marked, and parking was ample. NS
ReplyDeleteI recently moved to Oregon and was looking forward to voting by mail, a new system for me. In the last few elections, I have voted electronically in Georgia and by absentee paper ballot in Florida. Somewhat spoiled since I work in the Elections Division office, the process was really easy. The state sends out voter's pamphlets to every household (registered or not) that explain all the measures and candidates' statements. A week or so later the optical scan paper ballot arrives. I voted in my own living room, consulting the pamphlets where I needed help deciding since I am new to the state and didn't know many of the candidates. The instructions for filling out the ballot and sending it back were clear and I didn't have any questions. However, if I had, there was also information for contacting my county clerk if I had. While I miss the community-like atmosphere of actually waiting in line and going to the polls (and getting a sticker!), the ability to take as much time I as wanted filling out my ballot was refreshing and I definitely appreciate the vote by mail system.
ReplyDeleteHi Gretchen and Cheyenne!
ReplyDeleteWell, all in all, my voting experience was pretty enjoyable. Mostly, I was just excited to be a part of the process and excited about who I was there to vote for.
When I got there, there was no one in line at all. We went in mid-afternoon. I went to the sign-in table and had a similar problem to Gretchen's--they couldn't find my name in the book! I was a little concerned this would happen because I had just made the deadline to re-register since I had moved since the last time I voted. I was trying to hold back my disappointment as they searched through the ginormous book to find my name. Then they told me to go wait in another line and (thank the Lord!) they found my name in the other book.
The instructions on the ballot itself were pretty clear, but I did read them over 3 time before I started just to make ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN nothing was going to get screwed up and that I wasn't going to vote for McCain by accident or something. I completed the first page and flipped over to the second page and, again, had no idea who any of the judges were so I left that part blank. After I handed in my ballot and walked outside, I briefly panicked because I was afraid that maybe my ballot was incomplete. I wish they had a disclaimer about that on the ballot as well.
Then I went and ate tacos to celebrate. The End.
P.S. Where were the "I Voted" stickers?
Sara