Palm Beach should not revote

The election results aren't finalized, but voters in Palm Beach, Fla., are demanding a revote, based on an allegedly confusing ballot used in the Nov. 7 election in that county. Protesters claim the butterfly-style ballot caused more than 3,000 voters to accidentally choose Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan instead of Democratic candidate Al Gore.\nVoter Eileen Klasfeld told The Associated Press, "It was so hard to tell who and what you were voting for. I couldn't figure it out, and I have a doctorate."\nThursday, a class action suit was filed in the 15th circuit court in Palm Beach County on behalf of the voters in Palm Beach. The plaintiffs "seek relief in the form of a revote," according to the suit.\nThis suit is not only unjustified, but it unfairly places the fate of the presidency into a few voters' hands. While the confusion was unfortunate, a revote is unfair and too drastic a solution. \nThe ballot was, in fact, mailed to Palm Beach County voters a week to 10 days before the election, so they had plenty of time to study it and determine how to vote correctly. It was approved by the Democratic and Republican parties prior to the election, and assistance was available at the polling sites for voters who were confused. Everyone had the opportunity to voice a complaint before the election was ever held, and no one did.\nThe plaintiffs justified their request for the revote on the basis of one basic argument -- the ballot was confusing, which caused them to vote for the wrong candidate by accident.\nIn the suit, Theresa Lepore, supervisor of elections for Palm Beach County who designed the ballot, apologized for the confusion surrounding the "highly unusual ballot," but some confusion on the part of one county is not the basis for a revote.\nWho doesn't feel anxious and nervous when voting, even with a "normal" ballot? If anything, this is a call to voters to pay more attention to voting and to inspect the ballot they receive in the mail to ensure they vote correctly.\nSchool psychologist Ron McGee asked 8-year-olds at Lee County Elementary to vote for their favorite Disney character using a ballot similar to Palm Beach's butterfly ballot, The Associated Press reported Nov. 10. McGee said every one of his 74 students voted for the characters they intended to choose, without being given any explanation other than to check a box next to the chosen character. If children can figure out this ballot without confusion, it shouldn't be the cause of so much controversy.\nThe issue remains that the election of an entire nation could be decided on the basis of a ballot that is questionably "confusing." Florida officials continue the painstaking work of a recount in the state, and that alone is causing much confusion in the state and across the entire nation. But this ballot -- which doesn't confuse 8-year-old children, which was approved by all parties before the election, which was mailed to voters for study and which has been used before in previous elections and in other states -- should not prompt a revote that will ultimately decided the next president of the United States.