Machine flaws make voting difficult - studies find shortcomings in voting machines - Brief Article

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Nov, 1997

The design of some voting machines may make it needlessly difficult for people to cast ballots on Nov. 5, according to Susan King Roth, associate professor of industrial, interior, and visual communication design, Ohio State University, Columbus. Two studies found that some frequently used mechanisms have shortcomings that frustrate voters, especially those who are shorter than average, elderly, or visually impaired. For example, certain punch card ballots are confusing to voters, while sections of the ballot on mechanical lever voting machines are too high for shorter people to see easily.

In both studies, Roth videotaped people using real voting machines in a mock-election setup, then questioned the participants about their experiences. In the most commonly utilized voting system in the U.S. during the 1992 presidential election, they used a small handheld punch or stylus to make holes corresponding to their votes in a computer card. Subjects complained that they weren't sure which hole to punch to correspond with the candidate or issue they were voting for. They had difficulty reading numbers that were too small and couldn't see the punched holes through the plastic cover to check for errors.

The mechanical lever machine used in the study is operated by turning small metal levers positioned above or below selected candidates or issues. On the electronic machine, voters press buttons next to their choices. A red light flashes in areas of the ballot containing candidates or issues. The light quits flashing when people make their choice.

The study found that parts of the ballot on mechanical lever machines are too high. The top of the issues section was 67 inches from the floor. The average American woman's eye height is 60 inches, Roth points out, so those who are below the average height are at a disadvantage. That may be why four of the nine subjects who used the mechanical lever machine did not vote at all in the issues section.

Subjects who used the electronic voting machine were more likely to complete the entire ballot than those with the mechanical system. The reason may be that the flashing red lights reminded voters of areas in which they hadn't voted. "We need to find a better way to design voting systems so that we can ensure equal access to the democratic process for all voters," Roth maintains.