Election season is upon us here in the U.S., and with all of the anxieties circulating around—pandemic-related risks, potential mail-in voting delays, the defunding of the U.S. Postal Service (need we go on?)—one thing seems certain: For better or worse, the paper ballot is here to stay. Riffing on the common protest chant, This is What Democracy Looked Like: A Visual History of the Printed Ballot (Princeton Architectural Press), a new book by Alicia Yin Cheng, a founding partner of the Brooklyn-based graphic design firm MGMT, delves into the visual evolution of a fundamental yet often overlooked component of design in American culture.