The points made by these
noders are valid: the ballot
did violate more than one - two, in fact - guidelines in
state law; many people
were in a hurry when they cast their
vote; the sample ballot
was inconsistent with the final; and those responsible (the
government?)
should have corrected these
mistakes.
However, all of these facts are
irrelevant. This idea that
morons shouldn't vote has nothing to do with the government or its faults. It is a belief that people should take
responsibility for their own
mistakes. They should not blame
technicalities and
imaginary evils for their
carlessness, and they should concede their
errors while
learning from them.
While the ballot did violate some regulations, it was still within the
realm of understanding. An average
fourth grader could've made his/her choice with
nary an error. This wasn't some
mind-boggling riddle. It didn't require
deep thought, heavy
analyzation, knowledge of
The Calculus, or
omniscient wisdom. The fact of the matter is: if you
paid attention, you couldn't have made the
mistake that so many did.
I, too, live in
West Palm, and while many agree that the ballot
could've (and
should've) been simpler, I've heard
no one claim it to have been downright
confusing.