Designing the ballot is one of the most important tasks in running an election – voters of all education levels must be able to understand how to use the ballot with minimal confusion in order to be sure their vote is correctly communicated through their ballot.

The ballot layout must be easy to understand and guide voters through the sometimes-complicated process of voting with little difficulty. Essentially, the ballot must be designed for maximum usability by the voter.

Just as with ballot layout, ballot language must be designed with the voter in mind. This means that instructions must be clear and give voters enough information to correctly use the ballot, regardless of their education level or voting experience.

The Center for Civic Design (CCD) has a set of Field Guides to Ensuring Voter Intent available to help election officials create the most usable experience for voters.

Volumes 1-3 focus on ballot design. The principles laid out in those volumes apply to ranked choice voting (RCV) ballots the same as they apply to any other kind of ballot.

CCD has also produced a recent report, Designing RCV Ballots Best Practices, which is available below. For more RCV best practices, check out CCD's RCV page.

Designing RCV Ballots Best Practices (CCD, July 2022)

Principles and Guidelines Report (CCD, Feb. 2017; Ballot Design begins on pg. 44)

Ballot Design Testing Documents (Multi-style)

State of Maine RCV Sample Ballots (folder)

Portland, ME RCV Sample Ballots (folder)

Burlington, VT RCV Sample Ballots (folder)

San Francisco, CA RCV Sample Ballot (2019; English & Chinese)

FairVote Model RCV Ballot

Minneapolis, MN RCV Sample Ballots (folder)

San Francisco, CA RCV Sample Ballot (2018; English & Chinese)

San Francisco, CA RCV Demo Ballot (2015; English & Chinese)

Alameda County, CA RCV Sample Ballot (2010)