Basic Issues
Ballots are one of the highest volume items of material produced for an election--and, of course, the most important one. As the form that translates voters' preferred party or candidate into their vote, it is essential that ballot design is simple so that it can be clearly understood by all voters, and subsequently accurately assessed by ballot counting staff. In all systems, strict quality control measures on ballot production are required to ensure that ballots printed are accurate. Where ballots are accountable items, there must also be strict controls on ballot security and integrity to protect the validity of voting processes.
Ballot Design
Many of the elements of ballot design are dependent on the voting system employed. Major design features would usually be defined in electoral legislation. Within these constraints, however, there is usually room for electoral administrators to simplify and clarify design so that the voter's task in marking a ballot properly is facilitated. Not all systems are based on voters marking a preference on a ballot. In some systems tokens instead of ballots are used; in others the voters select their preferred ballot from a range of choices.
The ranges of designs currently in use varies from those that are difficult to comprehend to those that contain considerable information to assist voters in recognising their preferred candidate, through inclusion of party symbols and/or candidate photographs, and clear instructions on how to mark the ballot correctly. (For a discussion of ballot design, see Ballot Design.)
Ballot Production
Ballot production can be a critical time in the election process. Time pressures can be intense, especially where full detail ballots have to be prepared for early voting within a few days of successful candidate or party nominations being announced. No matter what the time pressures are, it is critical, particularly for 'mark choice' ballots, that strict quality control measures are applied to ballot production (see Printing of Ballots).
Integrity
Where ballots are accountable items, strict controls will be required on quantities of ballots produced, distributed, used by voters, and remaining unused at the conclusion of voting day. Reconciliations of ballots at various stages of the process--most importantly on delivery of ballots to voting stations, at the close of voting, and at the completion of the count--are required for assurance that no ballots are missing and that no fraudulent ballots have been introduced. Production methods that package ballots in accurate standard packs will simplify these reconciliations.
Similarly in such systems, controls on the authenticity of ballots are required so that there is assurance that all ballots in the ballot box are genuine and have been issued properly by polling officials to voters. Simple and complex methods exist for this, from the expensive, such as printing ballots on security paper or using security print methods, to the economical, such as polling officials validating each ballot when it is issued by signing or initialling its reverse side. The cost-effectiveness and any additional integrity of more expensive methods have to be very critically assessed when deciding what ballot integrity measures to implement. (For further discussion of ballot production integrity issues, see Printed Ballot Integrity Controls.)
