Voting paper, confusing?
CTV is clutching its head over the municipal form telling you whether you’re registered to vote. The five-panel fold is a little excessive, it’s addressed to Occupant and your name is printed in small print on the top right corner.
Apparently people have been going to line up to register who have no need to do so.
mare 22:56 on 2021-10-15 Permalink
I did almost that. It’s so badly designed. What I wrote on Twitter: “I can’t be the only one who feared for a few panicked *minutes* that I wasn’t registered as a voter after receiving a letter addressed to “the occupants”. Only after I read both sides of the letter I noticed my name in tiny type at the top right of the page.
Very bad design.”
dhomas 07:56 on 2021-10-16 Permalink
I went to check on the online portal to see if I was registered because my envelope said “À l’occupant”. I found it odd that I wouldn’t be registered, but the site confirmed that I was:
https://elections.montreal.ca/en/check-your-registration-on-the-voters-list/
Kate 10:04 on 2021-10-16 Permalink
dhomas, is your name not on the paper they sent, at the right of the address?
At least they could have printed people’s names in a larger size, maybe in bold type.
Kevin 10:50 on 2021-10-16 Permalink
I did like dhomas because I never spotted my name on the letter.
It was only after reading this article that I looked at the pamphlet again and spotted my name.
Shitty, shitty design.
dhomas 10:57 on 2021-10-16 Permalink
Same as Kevin. I saw “À l’occupant” and kinda freaked. I read the rest of the pamphlet to see how to verify/register and never saw my name on the letter, though it might be there. I’d have to check when I get home.
Nick D. 12:37 on 2021-10-16 Permalink
Same here. I saw « à l’occupant » and so didn’t notice my name hidden away on the right (and not laid out in a way you’d expect). Plus I moved a year ago so it was kind of half expected that I’d need to do something. I went to the office and they pointed out my name on the right.
Kate 12:44 on 2021-10-16 Permalink
We’re doing some useful feedback here on usability. Anyone mind if I summarize this thread in an email to Elections Montreal?
GC 19:25 on 2021-10-16 Permalink
I had been out of town, so I only just looked at mine. It is terrible. I was eventually able to find my name, printed tiny in one corner, but I might not have even looked that hard for it if I hadn’t read this thread. Who thought this was a good design???
MarcG 20:06 on 2021-10-16 Permalink
Another example of bad or total lack of quality assurance. They could have given these to 20 people and asked them “Is it clear that you are or are not registered to vote?” and fixed it before printing millions of them and having to deal with the fallout. I had exactly the experience described by mare and would appreciate it if you contacted Elections Montreal about it.
Kate 20:30 on 2021-10-16 Permalink
I have emailed Elections Montreal and given them hell.
MarcG, they really needed to test these, and included some older people, people with poor vision and people whose first language is neither French nor English. (I told them so.)
dhomas 14:11 on 2021-10-17 Permalink
Thanks for taking action, Kate. Hopefully, these letters will be better designed in 4 years’ time.