Research 1: Understanding the Role of Mail Ballots in Voting

Background

In the United States, voters can cast their ballots in person or via mail ballots (commonly referred to as “Vote by Mail” or VBM). For the latter, voters can pick it up at a local office or receive it by mail. There is a growing trend of voters using mail-in ballots in Florida (a battleground state). For instance, in the 2008 general election, more than 1.8 million Florida voters, or 22.2%, cast VBM ballots before the polls opened. Voters, especially those who use mail-in ballots for convenience, are being flagged for various reasons, including late arrivals and signature mismatches. This multi-level study aimed to identify the practical problems that voters face when filling out their mail-in ballots.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

What factors contribute to absentee ballot rejection rates in the design of mail ballots and return envelopes?

ROLE

I serve as an Assistant Researcher in this project.

TEAM COMPOSITION

Professor Daniel A. Smith, University of Florida Researcher & PI

Joselin Padron Rasines

Assistant Researcher

and

myself.

Timeline

This project started in January 2015 and ended in April 2015.

RESEARCH PROCESS & METHODS

STEP 1

Discovery - Literature and Data Review

Joselin and I read articles and secondary data to better understand Florida's voting process. Our understanding of the issue improved as a result. It also enabled us to focus on how mail-in ballot designs and instructions might affect how voters fill out their ballots.

STEP 2

Research Tool Selection - Excel

Pros

It allows us to input voting data.
It helps us develop a system that will allow us to keep a tally of the similarities and differences in the design of mail-in ballots.
It enables us to run statistical analyses to see if the rejection rates tend to increase when ballot designs are inconsistent.

Cons

Lack of visualization capabilities.
Challenges in putting new formula.

STEP 3

Explore - Mail-in Ballot Design

I contacted the Supervisor of Elections of 33 out of 67 counties in Florida to obtain absentee ballot reports and labels and request a copy of their mail ballots and return envelopes. After receiving the ballots and return envelopes of these 33 counties in Florida, I looked for design variations across these absentee ballots.

STEP 4

Test - Accessibility Evaluation

We came up with a set of questions that we could use to objectively measure the design of an absentee ballot:

Is the ballot vertical?
Do voters have to print their names at all?
Are voters informed about printing their names?
Is the Power of Attorney listed on the ballot?
A signature box?
Is there a sign here language?
Is there an arrow?
Do they offer translation in Haitian Creole?
Do they offer Translation in Spanish?

STEP 5

Findings

We discover that the rejection rates for voters of color tend to increase in counties with inconsistent ballot design.
We also found a lack of consistency in the design of mail ballots and the return VBM envelope.

STEP 6

Setback and Challenges

It was difficult to gather absentee ballots from all 67 counties for various reasons:
Some offices did not respond to our emails.
Others did not respond to our calls.
Some supervisors thought our request was illegal.
In the end, we ended up sending a mass email to all Supervisors of Elections, allowing us to obtain the requested information.

STEP 7

Outcomes

Based on our analysis, we found that the design of mail-in ballots should be consistent throughout the entire state.
The design should user friendly and practical.
Prof. Daniel A. Smith used our analysis to create guidelines to minimize mail-in ballot rejection rates in Florida.

Lesson Learned

Young voters are more likely to have their ballots rejected. As a result of these findings, I have taught people within my network the importance of keeping their voting information, specifically their signatures, up to date.
I would like to do eye tracking to see how much time voters take to fill out their ballots.
I would also like to interview voters to learn more about what they think of the design.