How Voters Review and Verify Ballots

Published

July 8, 2024

Author(s)

Suzanne Chapman, Lynn Baumeister, Whitney Quesenbery, Shanee Dawkins

Abstract

Qualitative research to gain deeper insights about how voters mark, review, verify, and cast their ballots. Conducted as part of the work to update the human factors—accessibility, privacy, and usability—requirements in federal voting system standards and fill gaps in our understanding of how voters interact with ballot marking devices. From detailed observations of 35 voters marking both a pre-printed paper ballot and a ballot marking device, four themes emerged about the influences that shape attitudes about and behaviors during voting: • Past voting experiences shape expectations for the voting process. • Voters preferred ballot marking devices. • Voters did not have strong habits for verifying their printed ballots. • The use of ballot marking devices alone did not encourage verification of printed ballots.

Citation

Grant/Contract Reports (NISTGCR) - 24-051

Report Number

24-051

NIST Pub Series

Grant/Contract Reports (NISTGCR)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.GCR.24-051

Local Download

Keywords

ballot marking devices, BMD, ballot review, hand-marked ballots, paper ballot, usability, voter ballot verification.

Citation

Chapman, S. , Baumeister, L. , Quesenbery, W. and Dawkins, S. (2024), How Voters Review and Verify Ballots, Grant/Contract Reports (NISTGCR), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.GCR.24-051, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=958066 (Accessed October 16, 2025)