Residual Vote Rate in Georgia Reveals Ballot Error

Article Read time:
Projects: Election Initiatives
Residual Vote Rate in Georgia Reveals Ballot Error

A ballot-labeling error in a Fulton County, Georgia, commissioners’ race was discovered when a consultant for the county election office identified a 4,200-vote drop-off in the contest for the commission chairman. 

A lawsuit, filed by the losing candidate against the county Department of Registration and Elections, alleges that because the ballot did not include a descriptor, such as “chairman,” to designate its importance, it confused voters, causing them to skip that race on the ballot.

The voter drop-off is often called the residual vote rate. Pew’s Elections Performance Index calculates the residual vote rate in each state as the percentage of ballots cast in a particular election that contained either an undervote (i.e., no vote) or an overvote (i.e., more than one candidate marked in a single-winner race). The Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project pioneered the measure of residual vote rate as a way to identify malfunctioning voting equipment or poor ballot design.

It is rare that such a technical measure makes the news, but the Fulton County commission race is an example of its usefulness in detecting problems in real elections. In this instance, the error resulted in a legal challenge to the race, which was dismissed because the judge believed that the ballot mistake impacted both candidates equally.

Follow us on Twitter using #electiondata and get the latest data dispatches, research, and news by subscribing today.

America’s Overdose Crisis
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up
Quick View
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up
RELATED
Tags
Election administration
Projects
Election Initiatives
Places
Georgia

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Green water runs beside a mud bank, which it peppered with oyster shells. Higher up from the water the bank is covered with green vegetation.

Article

February 15, 2024 Georgia Leaders Envision a More Resilient Future
An adult and a child huddle in front of a laptop computer, their faces lit by the screen, with a room and bright windows behind them.

Article

November 27, 2023 Researchers Share How State Grants Boost Broadband Access
A group of teenagers gather in a park with bikes, their silhouettes in high contrast to the cloudy sky behind them.

Article

November 2, 2023 Insights on Brain Development Can Improve Youth Justice

MORE FROM PEW

An aerial view of a vast wetland, with scattered vegetation visible on sandy islands. In Western Australia, a Conservation Model for the World
A presentation being given by a businesswoman to a group of participants at a business conference. Four Plan Features Can Boost 'Retirement Readiness'
A large group of people in formal or traditional attire stands together on a stage, with a digital background depicting marine life and the large text “WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.” WTO Needs to Redouble Its Effort on Fishing Subsidies
A man in a winter hat and sunglasses kneels on a rocky shoreline in front of a campfire, holding a metal mug with gloved hands. Behind him, in the water, a motorboat is moored to the shore. Cliffs rise on both sides of the water. Why Newfoundland’s South Coast Fjords Are Sacred
Composite image of modern city network communication concept

Learn the Basics of Broadband from Our Limited Series

Sign up for our four-week email course on Broadband Basics
Quick View

How does broadband internet reach our homes, phones, and tablets? What kind of infrastructure connects us all together? What are the major barriers to broadband access for American communities?

Pills illustration
Pills illustration

What Is Antibiotic Resistance—and How Can We Fight It?

Sign up for our four-week email series The Race Against Resistance.
Quick View
Pills illustration

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, also known as “superbugs,” are a major threat to modern medicine. But how does resistance work, and what can we do to slow the spread? Read personal stories, expert accounts, and more for the answers to those questions in our four-week email series: Slowing Superbugs.