Election officials had to fit a lot of words on the paper and screens we will use to vote

The 2016 election presents voters with a profound choice. The high-stakes presidential contest has drawn comparisons to 1932 (with its backdrop of the Great Depression) and 1964 (Lyndon Johnson vs. Barry Goldwater).

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are not the only candidates on the ballot, of course. In addition to congressional and state races, voters will be asked to evaluate judges as well as weigh new taxes and policy questions. The right to hunt, trap and fish is on the ballot in Kansas, while Missouri voters will consider questions about cigarette taxes, campaign contributions and other topics.

In the Show-Me State, that makes for a crowded ballot. The Kansas City Election Board ordered paper ballots that are 18 inches long, a record. Type appears on both sides of the page, and some of the nitty-gritty is printed in an 8-point font. Magnifying glasses will be available at polling stations.

Local election officials are concerned that the lengthy ballot, coupled with expected high turnout for the presidential election, will yield long waits at polling stations. To speed up lines, the Jackson County Election Board will have election workers distribute sample ballots to queuing citizens, the way popular restaurants make menus available to people waiting to be seated. 

Voters in Kansas can get a jump on Election Day. Early voting began last week and is available through noon Monday. “We want people to vote in advance,” says Debbie Tyrrel, a deputy commissioner in the Johnson County Election Office.

In Missouri, alas, voting early is not an option for most. An excuse is required for in-person absentee voting.

Officials at the Kansas City Board of Election, which handles the Kansas City portion of Jackson County, are encouraging voters to fill out a sample ballot and bring it to the polling station. (Voting, like an open-book exam, is not a test of memorization.) Lauri Ealom, the Democratic director of the Kansas City Board of Election, and Shawn Kieffer, the Republican director, tell The Pitch that, in tests, voters take up to 31 minutes to fill out a ballot when looking at it cold.

Ealom and Kieffer labored with their staff to perfect the design of the ballot. In addition to the small font, the names of candidates’ political parties are shortened to the first three letters. Gary Johnson and other libertarians will hope that less informed voters refer to the key at the top of the ballot, which explains that “Lib” is not short for “liberal.” Kieffer says a “spacing issue” forced the decision. 

Ballot design became a more prominent issue after the 2000 election. The now infamous “butterfly” ballot is believed to have cost Al Gore thousands of votes in Palm Beach County.

The Help America Vote Act of 2002, passed after the confetti of hanging chads had fallen, provided money for replacing antiquated voting equipment. Johnson County moved to touch-screen voting machines. Kansas City and the Jackson County Election Board use optical-scan ballots, like the standardized tests given in school. “The 2000 election changed everything,” Kieffer says.

In spite of the reforms, votes continue to be lost or miscast. According to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, several hundred thousand votes were not counted in the 2008 and 2010 elections. The Brennan Center estimates that as many as 400,000 people had absentee or provisional ballots rejected because of technical mistakes completing the forms or preparing and returning envelopes.

In some instances, the law compels election officials to incorporate clutter into ballot designs. By Kansas statute, state candidates’ hometowns appear with their names.

Other design decisions are made by choice. The Jackson County Election Board, for instance, makes extensive use of all-capital letters in its ballot. “People say that it’s much easier to read,” Tammy Brown, the board’s Democratic director, says, contradicting the evidence that the eye prefers lowercase. 

The first names on Jackson County’s ballot are HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON-TIMOTHY MICHAEL KAINE. (The candidates’ full names are listed because that’s what the party submitted to the state of the Missouri.) Being listed first on a ballot has been shown to be an advantage. The Clinton-Kaine ticket has a previous election to thank. In Missouri, top billing goes to the sitting governor’s party.