纽约时报 一张遍布缺陷的选举地图暴露了所有问题(3)

The race between George W. Bush and Al Gore¹, ultimately decided² by the Supreme³ Court,

乔治·W·布什和戈尔的竞选之争，最终的裁决权在最高法院手里，

exposed the fragility of a system that Americans had previously⁴ taken for granted.

就已经暴露了从前被美国人视为理所当然的制度何等脆弱。

Technical problems with decrepit⁵ machines had caused some votes to be counted more than once or not at all.

破旧的机器造成的技术问题让部分选票不是被重复统计了，就是根本没被统计上。

A badly designed ballot⁶ confused thousands of people.

设计糟糕的选票系统迷惑了无数人。

And a poorly executed purge⁷ of registration⁸ rolls led to eligible⁹ voters being turned away at the polls.

落实清除选举程序时执行不力导致原本合格的选民被排斥在了选举之外。

"What we learned in that was how confusing the entire process was,"

“从这一问题上，我们看出了我们的整个选举程序是多么混乱，”

said Adam Goodman, a Republican consultant¹⁰ who advised Florida's secretary of state at the time, Katherine Harris, during the recount.

共和党顾问，曾在佛罗里达州州务卿凯瑟琳·哈里斯重新统计选票时为她出谋划策的亚当·古德曼说。

"That was something the public back then didn't understand. It still doesn't understand."

“民众当时并不明白这一点，他们现在也没明白过来。”

Fallout from the recount contributed to the passage of the federal Help America Vote Act,

重新统计选票也从侧面促成了联邦《帮助美国投票法》的通过，

which allocated¹¹ billions of dollars for states to improve technology, ensure voter access and secure systems against fraud.

各州因此拿到了数十亿美元的拨款改进技术，确保选举通道顺畅，同时保护系统免受欺诈的干扰。

In Florida, legislators rewrote state laws, switched to paper ballots¹² and optical scanners (no more butterfly ballots or hanging chads),

佛罗里达州的议员重修了州法律，投票改用纸质选票和光学扫描仪（从此再也不会出现所谓的“蝴蝶选票”或者“孔屑废票”了）

and mandated¹³ automatic recounts for races with margins¹⁴ of half a percentage point.

还对用误差范围为0.5%的机器重新统计选票做出了硬性要求。

Charles Stewart III, a leading expert on election administration at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,

麻省理工选举管理的头号专家查尔斯·斯图尔特三世表示，

said complaints about this month's elections in some parts of the country should not be seen as evidence of a failing system, or lack of progress since 2000.

民众对本月部分地区的选举的不满，不足以被视为选举系统不合格或者自系统2000年来一直缺乏进展的证据。

"Elections are incredibly complicated," Mr. Stewart said, "and officials are legally required to take time beyond Election Day to count votes."

“选举是非常复杂的，”斯图尔特说，“法律也要求相关工作人员加班加点来计票。”

"Just the fact that we have a recount in Florida is leading people to say, ‘Ah, here we go again,'" he said.

“佛罗里达州重新计票都会致使有人说，'啊，又来了，'”他说。

"In fact, it's just a close election."

“事实上，这只不过是一次势均力敌的选举。”

Though it wasn't a 2000 redux, the 2018 midterms exposed persistent¹⁵ problems

尽管2018年的中期选举并没有重演2000年选举的悲剧，但还是暴露了一些持续存在的问题，

and the haphazard¹⁶ way the voting process was administered across the country.

也暴露了全国各地管理投票流程的方式十分混乱的问题。

In Arkansas, three-member boards handle elections at the county level, while in Connecticut all 169 towns and cities use their own registrars¹⁷.

比如，阿肯色州只有一个三人规模的委员会处理县级选举事务，康涅狄格州的169个城镇用的又都是各自的书记官。

The inherently political nature of running elections can call into question some officials' decision-making.

管理选举这项工作固有的政治属性也会让一些官员的决策受到质疑。

"In New York, party leaders fill county election boards in what critics say is little more than a patronage¹⁸ system.

“纽约的党领导人给县选举委员会安排的人选就被批判者们说和裙带体系没什么两样。

They are not chosen for their ability to manage or familiarity with election procedures,"

那些人能当选既不是因为他们出色的管理能力，也不是因为他们熟悉选举流程，”

said Susan Lerner, the executive director of Common Cause in New York City.

纽约“共同目标”组织的执行董事苏珊勒纳说。

"They are chosen for their party loyalty¹⁹ and to provide jobs to the party faithful."

“他们能当选是因为他们对党忠诚，是为了给那些忠诚于党的人提供工作机会。”

Florida still does not have a standardized²⁰, statewide ballot format²¹,

佛罗里达州至今也没有一个能在整个州范围内使用的标准化的选票格式，

and a poorly designed ballot in the heavily Democratic Broward County this month

本月严重偏向民主党的布劳沃德郡糟糕的选票设计

is believed to have led to a significant under-vote for Senator Bill Nelson, a Democrat²², who was narrowly behind Mr. Scott.

也被认为是导致原本只稍稍落后斯科特的参议院候选人比尔·纳尔逊，民主党人，最终选票远远不够的原因。

Some 30,000 people in Broward voted for governor but inexplicably²³ bypassed the Senate race,

布劳沃德约有3万人投票支持州长，但都莫名其妙地绕过了参议院竞选的投票，

which was tucked away in the lower left corner of the ballot, below the instructions and far from the rest of the contests.

因为那部分被藏在了选票的左下角，还在投票说明的下方，距离其他内容也较远。

Palm Beach County voters were given ballots that required them to draw a line to complete an arrow pointing to their preferred candidates,

棕榈滩县的选民拿到的选票要求他们画一条线让那个指向他们支持的候选人的箭头变成一个完整的箭头，

a potentially confusing alternative to the more common methods of filling in a bubble or making a check mark.

比起更加常见的涂圆圈或者打勾，这种方式容易让人产生混淆。

Meanwhile, Mr. Nelson has brought a lawsuit²⁴ in federal court over how Florida counties validate²⁵ signatures on mail-in and provisional ballots,

与此同时，纳尔逊向联邦法院提起了诉讼，控告佛罗里达各县验证邮寄选票和临时选票上的签名，

a process his campaign claims is unconstitutional because of inconsistent criteria²⁶ applied²⁷ by elections staff;

他的竞选团队称这一做法有违宪法，因为选举工作人员采用的标准不统一；

a judge gave voters till Saturday to validate their mismatched signatures .

某法官已经在周六前让选民去证实不匹配的签名了。

1 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

4 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

5 decrepit   

adj.衰老的，破旧的

参考例句：

• The film had been shot in a decrepit old police station.该影片是在一所破旧不堪的警察局里拍摄的。
• A decrepit old man sat on a park bench.一个衰弱的老人坐在公园的长凳上。

6 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。

7 purge   

n.整肃，清除，泻药，净化；vt.净化，清除，摆脱；vi.清除，通便，腹泻，变得清洁

参考例句：

• The new president carried out a purge of disloyal army officers.新总统对不忠诚的军官进行了清洗。
• The mayoral candidate has promised to purge the police department.市长候选人答应清洗警察部门。

8 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

9 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

10 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

11 allocated   

adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The Ford Foundation allocated millions of dollars for cancer research. 福特基金会拨款数百万美元用于癌症研究。
• More funds will now be allocated to charitable organizations. 现在会拨更多的资金给慈善组织。

12 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》

13 mandated   

adj. 委托统治的

参考例句：

• Mandated desegregation of public schools. 命令解除公立学校中的种族隔离
• Britain was mandated to govern the former colony of German East Africa. 英国受权代管德国在东非的前殖民地。

14 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

15 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

16 haphazard   

adj.无计划的，随意的，杂乱无章的

参考例句：

• The town grew in a haphazard way.这城镇无计划地随意发展。
• He regrerted his haphazard remarks.他悔不该随口说出那些评论话。

17 registrars   

n.主管注册者( registrar的名词复数 )；记录者；登记员；注册主任

参考例句：

• Authorization Code is required when attempting to transfer a domain between registrars. 当域名要转移注册商时需要授权代码。 来自互联网
• Only IATF registrars are authorized to conduct the surveillance audit. 仅仅IATF登记官被授权进行监视审计。 来自互联网

18 patronage   

n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场

参考例句：

• Though it was not yet noon,there was considerable patronage.虽然时间未到中午，店中已有许多顾客惠顾。
• I am sorry to say that my patronage ends with this.很抱歉，我的赞助只能到此为止。

19 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

20 standardized   

adj.标准化的

参考例句：

• We use standardized tests to measure scholastic achievement. 我们用标准化考试来衡量学生的学业成绩。
• The parts of an automobile are standardized. 汽车零件是标准化了的。

21 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。

22 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

23 inexplicably   

adv.无法说明地，难以理解地，令人难以理解的是

参考例句：

• Inexplicably, Mary said she loved John. 真是不可思议，玛丽说她爱约翰。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inexplicably, she never turned up. 令人不解的是，她从未露面。 来自辞典例句

24 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

25 validate   

vt.（法律）使有效，使生效

参考例句：

• You need an official signature to validate the order.你要有正式的签字，这张汇票才能生效。
• In order to validate the agreement,both parties sign it.为使协议有效，双方在上面签了字。

26 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

27 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。