The Usability of Ranked Choice Voting in Digital Ballot Formats

Abstract

ObjectiveThree digital ranked choice voting ballots were investigated to assess the impact of formatting on usability.BackgroundRanked choice voting (RCV) is a ballot format that allows voters to rank candidate choices in order of preference. The design of the ballot has a notable impact on usability, and this remains a challenge for RCV.MethodThis experiment investigated the usability of three RCV electronic ballot formats (bubble grid, column, and hand-numbered). Completion times, errors, subjective usability ratings, and trust data were collected.ResultsThe three formats took subjects 50-70 seconds on average to vote for a single contest. The ballots also had high error rates, which ranged from 23-38%. The hand-numbered format had the worst performance, as it had the highest completion times, error rates, and the lowest subjective usability ratings.ConclusionThis research highlights usability issues with RCV digital ballots. The formats tested were inefficient and ineffective, and performed poorly in comparison to previously tested plurality digital ballots.ApplicationThis experiment raises concerns about the scalability of RCV to larger elections. Ballots with RCV take longer to vote on and have higher error rates, which should be taken into consideration by election administrators.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Human Factors The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 2026 · DOI ↗