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Repeat of Florida Butterfly Ballot

Posted by michael on from the those-who-don't-study-history dept.

More Trouble writes "The Michigan Absentee Ballot seems to be very 'confusing', a la the infamous Palm Beach, Florida Butterfly Ballot. Help!"

10 of 48 comments (clear)

  1. Thank God for Small Favors, then. by Skyshadow · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Gee, it's a good thing that the polls aren't showing that the race in Michigan is almost tied or anything, right?

    Seriously, someone actually looked at this and decided it was okay?

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  2. It's been fixed already... by gtwreck · · Score: 5, Informative

    Numerous reports state that the company that sent out the ballot already mailed corrections. Also, it appears to be limited in scope.

  3. See the whole ballot by waynegoode · · Score: 2, Informative

    You can see the whole ballot at The Daily Kos.

  4. I can see the bumper sticker now... by k4_pacific · · Score: 4, Funny

    Don't blame me, I voted for
    ------------------- <==

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  5. It's Fixed. by nuxx · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you read through the comments, you'll see info detailing that it has been fixed.

    And no, this isn't the same as the 'butterfly ballot' or 'hanging chad' problems. Those were due to the stupidity of the user and a general inability to read and follow fairly simple directions. This is a typographical error.

    Still, I bet people will manage to screw up the connecting of an arrow.

    1. Re:It's Fixed. by fatmonkeyboy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Those were due to the stupidity of the user and a general inability to read and follow fairly simple directions.

      I hope you're not an engineer.

      The one thing I took away from my "User Interface" class in college is that if someone has trouble using something, it's the fault of the designer and not the fault of the user.

      I assume you have, at least once, pulled on a door, only to look down and see a big "PUSH" sign on it. A door can (and should) be designed so that you would never try to pull on it in the first place (e.g., don't put anything you can grab on the "push" side).

      The same with the Florida ballots in the last election. They were, quite simply, poorly designed. Yes, you can figure them out by looking at them closely and following the directions. That's not the point.

      Just as when you walked up to pull on the "PUSH" door, you didn't expect to need to read a sign to use it, the voters didn't expect to need to read the directions in order to punch in the correct hole. So they didn't...

  6. It's a screwed up ballot, BUT.... by DesScorp · · Score: 2, Informative

    ...please, no consipracy theories. It was a misprint, and it's been fixed. Plus, Bush is the one that didn't have a mark next to his name.

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    1. Re:It's a screwed up ballot, BUT.... by Sancho · · Score: 2, Insightful

      But in the event of a recount, where does the vote go? There's a notation for every candidate, it's just shifted down one. People who are going to vote for Bush would probably recognize the problem (since their notation is missing) and vote for the topmost one, which is correct for Bush. People voting for Kerry would not even look for the place to vote for Bush and would just mark the topmost one because it looks like it goes to Kerry.

  7. Ballot spell-check by joranbelar · · Score: 3, Informative

    Anyone notice that this ballot has the misspelled phrase "No Party Afiliation" under Nader? Official ballot, and they can't even spell right? ;)

  8. That's my ballot by Piersnica · · Score: 2, Informative

    That is the ballot I received on September 29th. My congressman said less than 70 affected ballots were mailed out, and the company was printing new ones to be mailed out within a week. http://www.umich.edu/~mlafler It may be a small problem, but I feel people should be aware of it, and please make sure to check your ballot carefully when you vote this November.