Member responses to the 2000 election

• Michael White
• Michael Bierut
• Emily Oberman and Bonnie Siegler

In the wake of the controversy over the design of Florida election ballots used in the 2000 U.S. presidential election, leaders of AIGA regional chapters responded with a number of solutions advocating for the involvement of professional designers and offered their expertise and support for ballot redesign efforts. These responses informed and inspired AIGA’s Design for Democracy initiative and its ballot and election design project.

By Michael White, AIGA Minnesota board member

I’ve seen lawyers commenting on the legal issues, politicians spewing on politics, historians recounting history, political analysts analyzing, statisticians reviewing statistics, even Electors from the Electoral College in Florida voicing their opinions—but I haven’t seen one graphic designer consulted on the disputed redesign of the ballots in Palm Beach County, Florida.

Given that a judge and an election official designed the ballots for the Palm Beach County precinct and the obvious confusion that has resulted, we see how strongly the evidence proves that graphic design is not a skill that should be entrusted to just anyone. Good intentions were behind the modifications to the ballots, but professional experience and training were lacking.

Information is the currency of our era, but it is of little worth if it is not readily understandable. More than ever before, we are living in a visual culture. Companies, organizations and government agencies spend billions of dollars to imprint their identities on our minds and to create personalities that carry their marketing messages. Whether it’s the FDA nutritional label that appears on every food item, the new look for Target or the very newspaper or website in which you are reading this, a graphic designer consciously identified the problem, conceived a viable solution, and executed that solution to the best of his or her ability.

Graphic designers are educated and experienced in helping organize and create visual communications. The issue of the ballots in Palm Beach County is just one example where designers can bring so much more to the table to achieve success, determine strategies and profoundly affect understanding. Something this important should be left to professionals.

This ballot design appeared in USA Today on November 14, 2000, in an article titled “Designers Build Better Ballots.”

This ballot design appeared in the New York Times Week in Review section on November 12, 2000, with an article by Emily Oberman and Bonnie Siegler titled “Drafting the Perfect Ballot.”