Here’s a composite based on 2004 general election ballots:

And here’s an example of a solution:

Is it the best solution? Probably not. Is it better than the current setup? Absolutely. One thing to really note here is how the information is dealt with in a palatable way. Everything seems logically placed in the order that you might need to refer to it. Instructions are on the left-hand side which is where most people would tend to start looking for anything since we’re programmed to read left to right, everything else is laid out in an orderly way, and the language is much simpler to understand. It doesn’t sound like a lawyer wrote it.

President and Vice President of the United States?

Simple. Done.
Definitely check out the full article at The New York Times’, because they go into much greater detail about how design-driven solutions can help voters make the right decision.

Let’s face it, most people are not as skilled with the Internet as designers and developers would hope. However, with some special consideration to the user experience and the design principles of a good user interface you can make sure your users are able to use your application as you intended.

UPDATE: The site has been launched and current only has a few entries, so feel free to suggest topics that you’d like to discuss.

I’ll keep everyone updated on the progress of this project, and if you’d like you can subscribe to the mailing list.