Thirteen fourth-grade students yesterday had no problem selecting
Vice President Al Gore on the Palm Beach County ballot currently cited
by Democrats as "too confusing."
The 9- and 10-year-olds at Fairfax Christian School in a Washington,
D.C., suburb were given a copy of the disputed "butterfly" ballot and
told to "mark the circle for Al Gore." All 13 students were able to
accomplish the task in less than a minute with no errors.
The disputed ballot from Palm Beach County, Fla. |
Voters in Palm Beach County and staff at the Gore campaign argue the
ballot caused thousands of confused voters to be "disenfranchised,"
since they may have either selected the wrong candidate or, realizing
they made a mistake, chosen two different candidates, thereby
invalidating their ballots.
The Gore campaign is reportedly contemplating legal action to obtain
a revote in Palm Beach County.
In the meantime, teacher David Thoburn decided to see just how
confusing the ballot really was. Most of his students in Vienna, Va.,
he said, are aware to some extent that the nation is anxiously awaiting
the result of Florida's election and that it bears great weight on the
presidential race.
"It was easy for them," Thoburn said. "My fourth-graders can't
understand how adults could possibly have trouble marking the correct
circle. It's a challenge to accept the explanation given for the
current controversy. To do so would require questioning the
intelligence of some voters in Palm Beach."
One fourth-grader told Thoburn that he would be happy to help voters
in Palm Beach in the next election.
"I think he just wants to go to the beach," added the fourth grade
teacher.
"I think it's real obvious that the problem here is not with the
ballot -- the problem is with sour grapes," Thoburn continued. "If even
fourth-graders can do the ballot just fine, I would think the adults
could."
See Gypsy Smith's
latest animated cartoon, exploring Florida's butterfly ballot.
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