Harley Rouda: “Every election, hundreds of thousands of votes are not counted simply because of bad ballot design. These citizens…”

“Every election, hundreds of thousands of votes are not counted simply because of bad ballot design. These citizens fulfill their patriotic duty, but their voices are silenced by confusing voter instructions and poor ballot design. This cannot continue. Although most Americans associate bad ballot design with the 2000 Presidential race and hanging chads, unnecessarily complex and misleading ballots still plague our elections today. Confusing ballot design has a significant and well-documented effect on our elections, disproportionately affecting low-income and elderly voters. You shouldn't need a magnifying glass to read a candidate's name and you shouldn't need a Ph.D. to understand voter instructions. My amendment simply directs the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to study the best ways to design both paper and digital ballots. By reviewing uncounted vote data and conducting usability tests, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission can provide States with better ballot design guidelines. This study, which would be due in January 2020, is a commonsense way to ensure that more Americans' votes are counted next election and in every election to come. Mr. Chair, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.”