Do Voters Really Fail to Detect Changes to Their Ballots? An Investigation of Ballot Type on Voter Error Detection

Abstract

Data from previous research that investigates whether or not voters fail to notice changes to their electronic ballot selections indicate that high percentages of people do not notice if their votes were altered, even after inspecting a final review screen. This paper questions if voters really do not notice changes as the previous studies found, or if the findings are an artifact of the types of races and propositions that they vote for in the experimental mock elections. Specifically, previous research studies used ballots that were comprised of fabricated candidates and propositions, which do not reflect the types of real-world issues presented on a ballot during an actual election. To investigate the issue, this study replicated the prior research, but introduced into the experiment a new type of ballot that was based on actual people and issues that the participant population was familiar with and felt was relevant to their current circumstances. Our findings reveal that the type of races presented to participants on a ballot in a mock election does not impact the ability of users to notice altered selections on a vote verification review screen. This suggests that the review screens currently implemented in electronic voting technologies might not be effective since user mistakes and potential fraud cannot be reliably identified by the voter before a vote is cast and then counted in the election tally.