The St. Petersburg Times and several other media organizations analyzed 175,010 Florida ballots that were cast but not counted during last year's presidential election.
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Florida’s confusing ballots
In the aftermath of last year’s election, Floridians were lampooned for spoiling so many presidential ballots. But an analysis by the St. Petersburg Times found that poor ballot design confused thousands of people, causing them to nullify their votes by making more than one choice for president. Actual ballots, linked from pages below, show the designs that helped create thousands of lost votes.
By THOMAS C. TOBIN and CONSTANCE HUMBURG, Times Staff Writers
© St. Petersburg Times, published November 11, 2001
Candidates spread over two columns
Fifteen counties had ballots that divided the presidential race across two columns, leading confused voters to choose two candidates.
Candidates spread over two pages
Three counties spread their presidential ballots over two pages. Many voters thought the second page was a separate race and voted again for president.
Confusing ballot instructions
In 41 counties, the instruction “Vote for Group” suggested it was okay to cast more than one vote for president. Thousands of voters did just that. In 24 other counties some confusing variation appeared.
The butterfly ballot county
19,345 Lost votes when Palm Beach County voters selected more than one candidate. 5,352 punched holes for both Gore and Pat Buchanan.
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