A:Some state ballots
feature jarring design
choices, like extra-long
columns or endless
instructions. In most
cases, the reason is legal.
When designing ballots,
election boards are
often required to follow
state- mandated rules on
everything from the font
to what languages are
included. In many cases,
ballots are designed so
poorly that they result
in people’s votes not
being counted: voters
skip sections or vote
for someone they didn’t
intend. With tens of
millions of people voting
by mail this year, the
challenge is even greater.
If you vote in person,
ballot scanners will often
notify you if you make
a mistake. If you fi ll out
a mail ballot, you won’t
know immediately if you
accidentally invalidated
your vote. Election experts
are particularly concerned
this year with the design
of a ballot in Gwinnett
County, Georgia, the
second-most populous
county in a battleground
state with two contested
Senate races: a special
election and a normal
contest. For the special
election, the ballot splits
the list of candidates
into two columns, which
may visually suggest that
voters select a candidate
in each column. If they
do that, their vote won’t
count. Ballot design has
consequences. Just a few
thousand mistakes could
swing a tight race.
ÑTara Law
WHY IS MY BALLOT
SO CONFUSING?
STATE OF
CALIFORNIA
The order in which
statewide candidates
are listed rotates
by voting district for
fairness. As many
as eight names, like
Kanye West’s, can
appear before Joe
Biden’s and Donald
Trump’s.GWINNETT
COUNTY,
GEORGIA
Ballot design could
affect the outcome
of a Senate special
election.The problem:- Voters may see
two columns of can-
didates as two races
and vote in each,
invalidating their
ballot. - In a past California
race, the two-column
design resulted in
nearly 5% of voters
making mistakes, per
the Brennan Center. - Some ballot scan-
ners notify in-person
voters if they’ve
made a mistake.
Mail ballots don’t
offer that immediate
safeguard.