How important is Ballot Design?

How important is Ballot Design? Maybe more important than you think.The Broward County election results are being questioned and a state-mandated recount is underway. 24,000 residents voted for Florida governor, but not for a U.S. Senator—a highly debated contest and the first one on the ballot. The pattern is unusual, and found only in Broward County, and many feel poor ballot design is at the heart of the problem.The ballot design doesn't follow best practices for design and violates guidelines outlined in a 2007 report by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. The Senate race was placed in the bottom left-hand corner, below vertical  instructions, making it very confusing.The recount will see markings that weren't picked up by machines, however it can't recover votes that weren't placed because they were overlooked.This isn't the first time a Florida ballot design is at the forefront election results. In 2000, the butterfly ballot in Palm Beach County has been blamed for George Bush's victory over Al Gore.With these ballot blunders, it's pretty obvious that universal design standards that also meet accessibility standards are being called for. The Center for Civic Design is offering advice to make sure poor design does not get in the way of democracy.Sources:https://www.fastcompany.com/90265447/terrible-ballot-design-may-have-decided-floridas-senate-racehttps://eyeondesign.aiga.org/the-high-stakes-of-voter-ballot-design/https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-ne-election-broward-unusual-total-20181108-story.htmlhttp://www.mit.edu/~jtidwell/ballot_design.html