2023 Theses Bachelor's
Ballot Design: Effects, Constraints, & Mitigation Strategies in Georgia & California
The significance of ballot design is not often acknowledged, until a glaring problem in a hotly contested election comes to light, as was seen in the 2000 Presidential election. However, ballot design issues can result in votes being invalidated due to unintended voter error, making it imperative to study their effects. This thesis explores ballot design through the issue of split-column layouts and its impact on voter error, specifically overvotes. Utilizing OLS regression analysis of data from two elections in Georgia and California, I examine the effect of split-column layouts on the overvote rate and evaluate the relationships between overvoting and the use of mail-in ballots, the population density of minority voters, and the use of bilingual ballots. The analysis of both case studies demonstrates that split-column layouts are indeed highly correlated with overvoting and that the use of central tabulation can be a strong predictor of overvotes, especially when used to count ballots with a split-column layout. I then survey various ballot design choices through sample ballot analysis. Finally, I conclude by proposing mitigation strategies for election administration with the intent of remedying potential disparities caused by split-column layouts and overvoting.
Geographic Areas
Subjects
Files
- Aditi Chatradhi_Thesis.pdf application/pdf 5.12 MB Download File
More About This Work
- Academic Units
- Political Science
- Thesis Advisors
- Erikson, Robert S.
- Degree
- B.A., Columbia University
- Published Here
- May 2, 2023