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CNN Live At Daybreak

Bewildering Ballots

Aired November 01, 2002 - 05:43   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Election officials in South Florida hope to streamline the process by having tens of thousands of people vote early. Still, there were waits of nearly two hours in one polling place yesterday as voters tried to make sense out of numerous state races and amendments, county measures and city initiatives.
Ballot confusion isn't just limited to Florida, though. CNN's Garrick Utley spoke with a New York graphics designer who has some ideas on cleaning up ballots.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARRICK UTLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For all that's done to make sure that voting machines work properly on Election Day, there's another hurdle to the smooth functioning of democracy, the ballot itself, which can baffle and bewilder even the most prepared voter at that moment of truth in the booth.

Is there a better way? Yes, says Ric Grefe, a graphic designer who's been studying and deciphering confusing ballots. He heads a group called Design for Democracy.

RIC GREFE, DESIGN FOR DEMOCRACY: Well I think the ballots have become more difficult to use because so much information has been layered on to them.

UTLEY: For example, look at this Chicago ballot two years ago where voters had to vote yes or no on whether a judge should continue in office.

(on camera): The names are listed on the ballot twice, one in English, one in Spanish.

GREFE: Yes, and then the description of the position is repeated over and over again.

UTLEY: Same description?

GREFE: Same description. Well what that does is it absorbs an awful lot of the space, and next thing you know there is a challenge in finding how to point out where a person actually makes their mark for the election.

In this case, if you want to vote yes for this candidate, you punch hole No. 1. If you want to vote no, you would think it would be the next hole because no is under it. But lo and behold, coming in from the other side of the ballot is a different candidate's name. So to punch yes for that candidate is actually the second hole. So the candidate you were asking about is voted on with hole No. 1 and No. 3.

UTLEY: No. 3 being the no?

GREFE: No. 3 being a no, No. 1 being a yes, No. 2 being a yes vote for a different candidate.

UTLEY (voice-over): Ric Grefe and his designers came up with something easier to understand.

GREFE: What we did here is we took the language that was repeated over and over again, remember in English and in Spanish, and since it's the same for all candidates, we moved it over to the side. That relieved a lot of space. And then we designed it so that the holes were in the same order of the yes/no vote for each candidate.

UTLEY (on camera): So, basically, this was a very simple, logical procedure?

GREFE: Very simple, logical procedure.

UTLEY: So why wasn't the ballot drawn up that way in the first place?

GREFE: We have no idea other than, as I mentioned, they get designed and added on to year in and year out and rarely do they bring in a professional designer.

UTLEY (voice-over): And there's also another human factor filling up the ballots as seen in Elmhurst, New York, 11373, believed to be the most ethnically diverse zip code in the United States. New York City on Tuesday will offer voters ballots in Chinese, Korean and Spanish, as well as English, as they make their choices among 48 candidates.

So what should the ideal ballot look like?

GREFE: I think the ideal ballot would be as clear as a nutrition label where you have things spelled out very clearly and straightforwardly and voters know what the choice is they're making.

UTLEY: Which shouldn't be that difficult.

Garrick Utley, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired November 1, 2002 - 05:43   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Election officials in South Florida hope to streamline the process by having tens of thousands of people vote early. Still, there were waits of nearly two hours in one polling place yesterday as voters tried to make sense out of numerous state races and amendments, county measures and city initiatives.
Ballot confusion isn't just limited to Florida, though. CNN's Garrick Utley spoke with a New York graphics designer who has some ideas on cleaning up ballots.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARRICK UTLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For all that's done to make sure that voting machines work properly on Election Day, there's another hurdle to the smooth functioning of democracy, the ballot itself, which can baffle and bewilder even the most prepared voter at that moment of truth in the booth.

Is there a better way? Yes, says Ric Grefe, a graphic designer who's been studying and deciphering confusing ballots. He heads a group called Design for Democracy.

RIC GREFE, DESIGN FOR DEMOCRACY: Well I think the ballots have become more difficult to use because so much information has been layered on to them.

UTLEY: For example, look at this Chicago ballot two years ago where voters had to vote yes or no on whether a judge should continue in office.

(on camera): The names are listed on the ballot twice, one in English, one in Spanish.

GREFE: Yes, and then the description of the position is repeated over and over again.

UTLEY: Same description?

GREFE: Same description. Well what that does is it absorbs an awful lot of the space, and next thing you know there is a challenge in finding how to point out where a person actually makes their mark for the election.

In this case, if you want to vote yes for this candidate, you punch hole No. 1. If you want to vote no, you would think it would be the next hole because no is under it. But lo and behold, coming in from the other side of the ballot is a different candidate's name. So to punch yes for that candidate is actually the second hole. So the candidate you were asking about is voted on with hole No. 1 and No. 3.

UTLEY: No. 3 being the no?

GREFE: No. 3 being a no, No. 1 being a yes, No. 2 being a yes vote for a different candidate.

UTLEY (voice-over): Ric Grefe and his designers came up with something easier to understand.

GREFE: What we did here is we took the language that was repeated over and over again, remember in English and in Spanish, and since it's the same for all candidates, we moved it over to the side. That relieved a lot of space. And then we designed it so that the holes were in the same order of the yes/no vote for each candidate.

UTLEY (on camera): So, basically, this was a very simple, logical procedure?

GREFE: Very simple, logical procedure.

UTLEY: So why wasn't the ballot drawn up that way in the first place?

GREFE: We have no idea other than, as I mentioned, they get designed and added on to year in and year out and rarely do they bring in a professional designer.

UTLEY (voice-over): And there's also another human factor filling up the ballots as seen in Elmhurst, New York, 11373, believed to be the most ethnically diverse zip code in the United States. New York City on Tuesday will offer voters ballots in Chinese, Korean and Spanish, as well as English, as they make their choices among 48 candidates.

So what should the ideal ballot look like?

GREFE: I think the ideal ballot would be as clear as a nutrition label where you have things spelled out very clearly and straightforwardly and voters know what the choice is they're making.

UTLEY: Which shouldn't be that difficult.

Garrick Utley, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com