美国国家公共电台 NPR Why Are So Many Election Ballots Confusing?

Why Are So Many Election Ballots² Confusing?

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Several of the midterm races that went into overtime³ this year were slowed down in part by poor ballot¹ design. In Florida, 30,000 voters in Broward County voted for a candidate for governor but not for the Senate. That race was buried under a block of text. In Georgia, so many voters filled in their birthdate incorrectly that a federal judge ordered those ballots be counted. So what makes a good ballot design, and why is it so hard to come by? NPR's Rebecca Ellis has more.

REBECCA ELLIS, BYLINE⁴: Whitney Quesenbery knows a well-designed ballot when she sees it - 12-point font, lower case letters, a clean sans serif font.

WHITNEY QUESENBERY: Look at these instructions, right? They're beautiful.

ELLIS: Quesenbery has been assessing ballot design for nearly two decades - first as an appointee to the Federal Election Assistance Commission, then as a co-founder of the Center for Civic⁵ design. This year, Los Angeles County's ballot was on the cutting edge. But she says other election boards still distribute ballots that look like they came out of the last century. I hand her one from Chenango County, N.Y. The layout is typical for the state, which has strict, some say dated rules on what counties can do with their ballot, like the statute⁶ requiring an illustrated⁷ index finger point toward each candidate.

QUESENBERY: It's like a typographical convention from the '40s.

ELLIS: Then there are the odd emblems⁸ used to denote each party.

QUESENBERY: Why are Democrats⁹ a star? And what is the Republican one?

ELLIS: It's an eagle. And, of course, the 276 words of instruction.

QUESENBERY: Mark only with a writing instrument provided by the Board of Elections. Who's the Board of elections? What's a writing instrument? And why?

ELLIS: Stilted¹⁰ language and data design isn't an issue just because it irks experts like Quesenbery. It can cause voters to make real mistakes, like the cascade¹¹ of misfortunes that hit New York City this year after it unrolled its perforated, two-page ballot. Voters who didn't know you had to tear at the edges to get at the entire ballot ended up skipping the middle pages. Then the fat ballots jammed the scanners. Long lines formed. People went home. Quesenbery can add it to the list.

QUESENBERY: I have his collection of ballots, and they're basically all histories of disasters.

ELLIS: The collection dates back to 2000, when poorly designed so-called butterfly ballots in Palm Beach County, Fla. crippled the presidential election.

QUESENBERY: I suddenly realized that what was wrong was something I knew about, right, which was design.

ELLIS: At the time, Quesenbery was in the field of usability. She worked with places like Amtrak and eBay making it easier for users to buy and bid. Post-election, she pivoted¹² exclusively to voting materials. Since then, she says she's seeing real improvement within California, Virginia, even New York. But other counties stay static, constrained¹³ by old technology, arcane¹⁴ laws and tradition.

TINA OLIVIERO: It's basically always stayed pretty much the same.

ELLIS: Tina Oliviero was in charge of this year's design for Chenango County, N.Y. When I gave her a call at the county's board of elections late last week, she was still tallying¹⁵ ballots. She says it looks like most voters have filled in the ovals just fine.

OLIVIERO: We do have voters that don't fill it in, and they X or check.

ELLIS: Quesenbery says this may be because the directions are located at the bottom of the ballot. But Oliviero says the instructions are clear.

OLIVIERO: I feel that it makes it simple, and it makes it so people should know. You fill the oval in, and then you cast your ballot.

ELLIS: The Brennan Center for Justice estimates tens of thousands of votes are lost each year to tiny mistakes like these. It's not just the voting portion of the ballot where people stumble. In several states, signatures on the ballots are supposed to match the signatures on file. If they don't, the vote gets thrown out. Here, Quesenbery prescribes a big box with an X.

QUESENBERY: That nice, big X tells you that at the end of this form, this is the thing that signs and seals it.

ELLIS: And above the box, there would be instructions.

QUESENBERY: Write within the lines. Your signature will be matched.

ELLIS: Simple - just like voting should be.

Rebecca Ellis, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF MAC MILLER¹⁶ SONG, "WHAT'S THE USE?")

1 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

2 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 overtime   

adj.超时的，加班的；adv.加班地

参考例句：

• They are working overtime to finish the work.为了完成任务他们正在加班加点地工作。
• He was paid for the overtime he worked.他领到了加班费。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

6 statute   

n.成文法，法令，法规；章程，规则，条例

参考例句：

• Protection for the consumer is laid down by statute.保障消费者利益已在法令里作了规定。
• The next section will consider this environmental statute in detail.下一部分将详细论述环境法令的问题。

7 illustrated   

adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• His lecture was illustrated with slides taken during the expedition. 他在讲演中使用了探险时拍摄到的幻灯片。
• The manufacturing Methods: Will be illustrated in the next chapter. 制作方法将在下一章说明。

8 emblems   

n.象征，标记( emblem的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His emblems are the spear and the burning torch. 他佩带的徽记是长矛和燃烧着的火炬。 来自辞典例句
• Crystal prize, Crystal gift, Crystal trophy, Champion cup, Emblems. 水晶奖牌、水晶礼品、水晶纪念品、奖杯、金属奖牌。 来自互联网

9 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 stilted   

adj.虚饰的；夸张的

参考例句：

• All too soon the stilted conversation ran out.很快这种做作的交谈就结束了。
• His delivery was stilted and occasionally stumbling.他的发言很生硬，有时还打结巴。

11 cascade   

n.小瀑布，喷流；层叠；vi.成瀑布落下

参考例句：

• She watched the magnificent waterfall cascade down the mountainside.她看着壮观的瀑布从山坡上倾泻而下。
• Her hair fell over her shoulders in a cascade of curls.她的卷发像瀑布一样垂在肩上。

12 pivoted   

adj.转动的，回转的，装在枢轴上的v.（似）在枢轴上转动( pivot的过去式和过去分词 )；把…放在枢轴上；以…为核心，围绕（主旨）展开

参考例句：

• His old legs and shoulders pivoted with the swinging of the pulling. 他一把把地拉着，两条老迈的腿儿和肩膀跟着转动。 来自英汉文学 - 老人与海
• When air is moving, the metal is pivoted on the hinge. 当空气流动时，金属板在铰链上转动。 来自辞典例句

13 constrained   

adj.束缚的,节制的

参考例句：

• The evidence was so compelling that he felt constrained to accept it. 证据是那样的令人折服，他觉得不得不接受。
• I feel constrained to write and ask for your forgiveness. 我不得不写信请你原谅。

14 arcane   

adj.神秘的，秘密的

参考例句：

• The technique at one time was arcane in the minds of most chemists.这种技术在大多数化学家心目中一度是神秘的。
• Until a few months ago few people outside the arcane world of contemporary music had heard of Gorecki.直至几个月前，在现代音乐神秘殿堂之外很少有人听说了戈莱斯基。

15 tallying   

v.计算，清点( tally的现在分词 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合

参考例句：

• In 2007 the state set a U.S. record, tallying 141 twisters. 该州在2007年以总计出现了141个龙卷风而创下了一个美国记录。 来自互联网
• We charge extra fee at 100% of the rates of tallying fees. 我们按理货收费率的100%收取附加费。 来自互联网

16 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。