Some are complaining about the Cuyahoga Absentee Ballot which appears below:
The absentee ballot comes in two parts. The part on the left with the names, parties, numbers, and arrow. And the actual punch ballot. Someone lined up the ballot with the information page, and showed that the arrows don’t align.
But you’re not supposed to align them. Since it’s an absentee ballot, you don’t get sent a voting booth in the mail. It has to be done manually. They don’t expect you to line up the ballot. You’re supposed to read what number you are supposed to punch. And then punch it.
I think some believe a typographical error was made…and the Bush/Cheney number was supposed to be 14 (and one other party was supposed to be 12 instead of 2) but the numbers are correct; confused voters just aren’t reading the instructions they’re given.
I’ve read that this is a hoax; the real ballots do have “12” and “14” next to the Libertarian and Republican candidates, and that this is a photoshopped version of the real ballot.
If it is a hoax, it has been picked up by both TV and newspapers…including MSNBC, and the local paper, the Cleveland Plain Dealer. (Cleveland is part of Cuyahoga County)
It wouldn’t be the first time newspapers had been fooled by an internet hoax…but, I’d expect the local paper to have access to an actual absentee ballot, and doublecheck. And I’d expect the officials from Cuyahoga County when interviewed by the press would clarify matters. Instead their responses implied the ballot and text shouldn’t match up, and voters were supposed to treat them separately. They also implied this has been the case in past years.
Do you have a link for the Plain Dealer story? The complete lack of mention of this on the local media sites is what sealed the deal for me that this was a hoax.
Cleven Plain Dealer
Sorry, the post wasn’t clear, it’s the link in the final paragraph.
Cleven = Cleveland