New York Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh (D-Manhattan) has introduced AB 3389, to require better designed ballots. Here is information about the bill. It is not easy to read the bill summary or the bill itself and completely understand what it would do, although the bill requires larger font size for the names of candidates.
Here is what the November 2014 New York ballot looked like, in the counties outside New York city. Thanks to Michael Drucker for this news.
Another effort to re-invent the ballot ???
How many States specify the EXACT form of ballots — ZERO discretion for bureaucrat HACKS to play games with ballot forms ???
Have the gerrymander MORONS in the NY legislature ever heard about OFFICE BOX ballots ???
— Each office has a box with ALL candidates for the the office.
Where is that Model Election Law — to get RID of the MORONS ???
Just do away with the Party column or Party row, and using the “office box” type ballot, would make the ballot smaller, but would help stop the uninformed from voting straight party tickets.
One of the greatest problems in our nation today is people voting a straight party ticket, and they cannot tell you what that party stands for.
Of course, for some, it wouldn’t matter. Some people have been told that voting for any one other than a Democrat is bad, and some have been told that voting for anyone other than a Republican is bad.
Until we have an enlightened electorate, politics will not get better in this country.
The ballot confusion in NYS is mostly the result of fusion and candidates listed on 2, 3, or 4 parties each. The Tompkins County ballot shown is particularly problematic in that one line (rows I and J together) feature both the Stop Common Core and Libertarian parties.
As a New York State voter, I like fusion, but it does cause ballots to be overloaded sometimes, especially when new, ephemeral parties are created merely to provide a third or fourth ballot line for the same candidate.