A Universally Usable and Anonymous Approach to Voter Write-Ins Using Multimodal Interaction and Prediction Techniques

Abstract

The primary objective of the research in this dissertation is to develop a system in which any person, regardless of ability or disability, can efficiently, anonymously, and independently write-in a candidate’s name during an election. This research is designed to be beneficial to voters during elections. Not only does this research embrace the needs of the 36 million United States (U. S.) citizens who are disabled, but it also affords voters the opportunity to properly write-in a candidate’s name as intended. The method presented here utilizes multimodal interaction, i.e. speech, touch, and switch, to allow voters to privately spell the name of the candidate they intend to write-in. This method also implements name prediction, increasing the efficiency and accuracy of the write-in voting process. In accordance with the standards for usability set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the hypothesis of this research is that the system designed would be effective, efficient, and provide user satisfaction. An experiment was performed to evaluate the system against these measures. The results of the experiment show that the system designed is an effective and efficient solution to writing-in a candidate’s name, and with minor adjustments, will be more than satisfactory for voters to utilize.