Voters confused by e-voting machines, study finds

[Evan Ravitz <Evan@xxxxxxxx>]

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0108/012508n1.htm

Voters confused by e-voting machines, study finds

By Gautham Nagesh gnagesh@xxxxxxxxxxx January 25, 2008

With the presidential election less than 10 months away, a statistically significant portion of voters may accidentally vote for the wrong candidate on electronic voting machines because they find the displays confusing, according to results of a five-year study conducted by three universities.

The study, conducted by the universities of Maryland, Rochester and Michigan, found that 3 percent of people voting electronically selected a candidate they did not intend to choose. While much of the attention to electronic voting machines has been on the security issues involving the machines' software and how the systems are stored during elections, the study's authors emphasized that poor user interfaces -- the way candidates' names and ballot initiatives are displayed to voters -- pose a much greater risk of skewing elections....

This recalls Dan Rather's excellent expose The Problem with Touchscreens which you can find at www.video.google.com

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Evan Ravitz, founder  303-440-6838  www.EvanRavitz.com
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