Alternative Review Screen Design for Electronic Voting Systems

Abstract

Verifying a ballot for correctness in an election is a critical task for the voter. Previous work has shown that up to 30% of the ballot can be changed without being noticed by more than half of the voters. In response to this ballot weakness, this study evaluated the usability and viability of alternative ballot verification methods in an electronic voting medium. Three verification methods were tested: end-of-ballot, in-line confirmation, and dual confirmation. In-line and dual confirmation perform similarly to end-of-ballot confirmation in terms of effectiveness. The most efficient method is end-of-ballot review, and dual confirmation produced the longest time spent on the review screen. End-of-ballot confirmation produced the highest satisfaction ratings, though survey results indicated that dual confirmation may be the most appropriate method in terms of voting. Additional research in the field is the next step in exploring these confirmation methods.