Undervote in Bucks County DA Race Blamed on Ballot Design
The Bucks County district attorney’s race was one of the most high-profile row office contests in Tuesday’s primary election. So, why did the candidates in both parties get so few votes?
Some political observers say the ballot design is to blame.
Republican candidate Jennifer Schorn received 6.5 percent fewer votes than the other GOP row office candidates. Democrat Joe Khan had 5.5 percent fewer votes than the other candidates in his party.
The Democratic row officers averaged 53,919 votes, while Khan received 50,930. The Republican row officers averaged 39,030 votes, while Schorn received 36,488 votes.
Schorn told DVJournal that she heard from committee people who worked or volunteered at the polls and others that voters were asking why the district attorney position was not on the ballot. They missed it because it was under the long list of eight judicial candidates, rather than with the other county row office positions on the right side of the ballot.
“A number of people expressed that they couldn’t find my name on the ballot,” said Schorn, who is concerned that the problem might occur again in the general election on Nov. 4. “It was unfortunate how (the ballot) was laid out.”
How a ballot is designed can be “impactful,” said Schorn. “It can have a positive or negative impact.”
If that’s what happened, it wouldn’t be the first time.
Perhaps the most notorious instance of headaches caused by poor ballot design is the infamous “butterfly” ballot in Palm Beach County, Fla., when George W. Bush and Al Gore faced off in 2000. It’s believed more than 2,000 voters mistakenly cast ballots for TV pundit Pat Buchanan instead of Gore, handing the Sunshine State — and the White House — to Bush.
Kahn did not respond to a request for comment from DVJournal. Nor did Democrat county solicitor Amy Fitzpatrick or state Sen. Steve Santarsiero (D-Bucks), the Bucks County chair of the Democratic committee.
Bucks County Republican Chair Pat Poprik takes the issue seriously.
“The placement of the district attorney race on the primary ballot caused confusion and contributed to an undervote,” said Poprik. “Some voters simply missed the race because of where it was placed. We will be addressing this with the Board of Elections for the general election.”
In most municipal election years, there are fewer judge candidates on the ballot, she said. Having eight judicial candidates pushed the district attorney section of the ballot lower on the page.
“It’s certainly possible that the ballot layout affected the number of votes cast in this race, particularly since discrepancies appeared in both Democratic and Republican races,” said Genevieve Greene, a spokeswoman for the Philadelphia election watchdog organization Committee of Seventy.
“At the same time, other factors—like a lack of voter familiarity with the candidates or interest in the race—could also have played a role. While we can’t know for sure what happened, this nonetheless underscores the importance of clear, intuitive ballot design.”
Matt Heckel, a spokesman for the Department of State, which administers elections at the state level and supports the counties, referred DVJournal to county officials to comment on the ballot issue.
The Bucks County Board of Elections is comprised of the county commissioners, with Commissioner Bob Harvie Jr. serving as its chair. Harvie did not respond to requests for comment.
“I intend to look into it,” said Schorn.
