The Palm Beach County Butterfly Ballot Controversy
Wednesday morning brought the first specific reports of voting irregularity in Florida. Attention soon focused on the design of the ballot in Palm Beach County, which many voters found confusing. This ballot design used 2 pages for voting on a single office. The candidates were staggered one on the left page, then one on the right page, and then back to the left page again. The name corresponded to holes that ran down the center between the 2 pages. These punch-card style voting machines required the voter to pick up a pointed stylus, line it up with the hole corresponding to his candidate of choice, and to push it down into the hole and through the voter card underneath the ballot booklet. Some voters found the left, right, left, right design confusing. George Bush and Al Gore were the first two candidates listed on the left side, but the hole corresponding to Al Gore's name was the third one down, not the second one. The second hole belonged to Pat Buchanan, whose name was the first one listed on the right side of the ballot. Ironically, this ballot design was chosen in part because it allows for larger print, and it was an attempt to accommodate the county's large elderly population. Unfortunately, as many as 3,000 voters who intended to vote for Al Gore ignored the right side of the ballot and punched the second hole down and thus accidentally voted for Pat Buchanan (The punch card itself is slipped in beneath this ballot from above). Voters in Palm Beach County were sent a sample ballot by mail, but it did not show the holes down the center.
The following day, Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan agreed that most of the 3,400 votes he got in Palm Beach County. The county, known for its Democratic support, were likely accidentally cast for him due to the ballot confusion, and were meant for Al Gore. Buchanan has consistently confirmed this belief on television ever since (often with a wry smile).