Originally Published: October 25, 2011
Citizens Union Commends City Board Of Elections For Putting Sample Ballots Online For Election Day
Citizens Union commends the City Board of Elections (the Board) and the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) for placing online sample ballots for Election Day this November 8th and for all future elections. Voters will now see the design of their individual ballots in addition to the contests they will vote for prior to Election Day. During the 2010 primary election, many New Yorkers struggled to cast their votes accurately due to the small size of the font and the confusing design of the ballot that accompanied the introduction of new electronic voting machines. Online sample ballots are a creative way for New York City to make ballots more accessible to the public, particularly given the flawed ballot design mandated in state law that, for example, makes the font a fixed and small size.
Viewing a sample ballot online that is tailored to their individual races in advance of an election will better prepare voters to more accurately and completely cast their votes. Voters will be able to find their individualized sample ballots through the poll site locator on the Board’s website. A 2010 City Council survey of voters conducted with the participation of Citizens Union revealed that 1 in 3 voters surveyed found the ballot to be difficult to read.
The Board’s posting of ballots online for this fall’s General Election is the culmination of years of advocacy by good government groups and Councilmember Gale Brewer that led to the Board’s official support for online sample ballots in November 2010 and concluded with the U.S. Department of Justice’s recent approval of the postings. The commissioners’ decision to post sample ballots online was put in motion in November 2010 after Citizens Union released an analysis showing that the local boards of elections in twenty-seven counties in New York State – representing almost half of all counties – posted sample ballots online for voters to familiarize themselves with the ballot and races prior to entering the polling place (see also a map of counties that provided online sample ballots in 2010). Citizens Union in its analysis noted best practices of local boards and that six counties tailored ballots to individual voters, making them available through their online poll site locators.
Three and a half weeks after Citizens Union’s report was released, the Board’s commissioners unanimously passed a resolution in favor of posting sample ballots online. The resolution also adopted design suggestions Citizens Union recommended, namely linking the online sample ballot to the poll site finder, so users can view a ballot that is tailored to their specific election and assembly district based on their residence rather than a ballot that is similar in design but may differ in the candidates from the one they will see on Election Day.