Ballot problems are nothing new in South Florida and now; the 2014 ballot is under fire after over where the issue of keeping the Broward Children’s Services Council falls on the ballot.
“I said, ‘What happened to the Children’s Services Item?’” said voter Karen Dickerhoof. “So I went backwards, and there it was at the bottom of the page under Amendment 3. Well, my plan was to vote no on Amendment 3, and so what did I do? I voted no on the Children’s Services Item.”
Children’s Services attorney Mike Ryan filed suit against Broward Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes. Ryan alleged that the three-column ballot is misleading.
“You get to Amendment 3, people are naturally going right to the bottom,” Ryan said. “What’s missing right here is any prominence.”
Ryan says that going forward, Broward County should print a revised ballot, or hand voters a note that, “directs their attention that there are four items on page 1A, and in column 3, there are two.”
The first two columns feature election items, their Spanish and Creole translations, and a yes or no vote at the bottom. Column three features two issues, with two yes or no votes, and many voters are skipping to the bottom.
The CSC said that the mistake could be costly to the program. According to CSC president Cindy Arenberg, it could cost 150,000 kids valuable developmental service, and hurt service providers.
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“Over the next year, we would have to say this is the end of your contract, stop all programming,” Arenberg said.
Snipes was briefed on the issue and issued a warning to voters to be careful when filling out the 2014 ballot.
