The Florida primary ballot mess

www.americanthinker.com

I moved to warm and sunny Florida in 2012 after retiring from the CIA, having lived in Reston, Virginia (aka the People’s Republic of Reston), since 1986. I have friends back there who complain to no end about what Virginia’s new governor is doing. That’s a story for another time.

Moving to Florida meant a new lease on life. I get to play golf year-round, write stuff to my heart’s content, and make sculptures. Bob Gualtieri, the sheriff of my county, works hard to keep us safe.

As do many other states, Florida allows mail-in ballots. I got mine yesterday, in time for the August primary. I looked at the details and noticed a logic flaw right away. How “they” missed it is a mystery. Or, maybe not, considering the mess Common Core made of basic logic. Florida adopted CC along with most of the country. A terrible, awful, very bad decision.

What logic flaw?

The first item on the ballot is the Senate race. I’m a registered Republican, so my ballot shows only Republicans running for that job. Here is the verbatim language on the ballot—it’s in English and in Spanish, but I’ll only show you the English version.

United States Senator

(Vote for One)

Chris Gleason

Ashley Moody

Neelam Taneja Perry

Ernest “Ernie” Rivera

Easy peasy. Several people are running for one job.

The next item is the Governor’s race. Here, things are more, um, complicated.

Governor and Lieutenant Governor

(Vote for One)

Jay Collins

Byron Donalds

James Fishback

Jim Holcomb

Arthur Joseph McCaffrey

Daniel Nokovich

Paul Renner

Rachel Rodriguez

James W. Shaw

Caneste Succe

Bobby Williams

Let me reiterate that the “vote for one” is paired with a heading stating “Governor and Lieutenant Governor.” With that in mind:

1. Let’s say I pick Collins.

2. Does that mean he’s running for both jobs?

3. Yes, because of the word “and” on the jobs list.

4. How can I vote for Collins only as governor when two jobs are listed?

5. What does “One” mean in “Vote for One”?

6. One person or One job?

7. It can’t mean “One job” because two jobs are listed.

8. How will the counting machine know which job I intended for Collins?

9. How can I “Vote for One” when two jobs are listed?

10. Is everyone on the list running for both jobs?

11. Is anyone running for both jobs?

Makes your head spin, don’t it?

I contacted the County for clarification and learned the following:

All the GOP people on the ballot are running only for Governor.

“Governor and Lieutenant Governor” language is on the ballot because on the Democrat side, someone is running for both jobs.

Florida law requires identical ballot formats for both parties.

“Sorry if you find this confusing.”

Democrats won’t be confused about their ballot because they know someone is running for both jobs, which the ballot was designed to accommodate. In other words, “they” wrote a ballot that suited Democrats first and didn’t care that it might confuse Republicans.

I asked the County clerk I talked to, “Why are you confusing Republicans?” She only said, “Your concerns will be passed on.” Yay!

“What’s the answer, Arnold?”

“Governor and/or Lieutenant Governor” removes most of the confusion—duh.

The 11 GOP people on the list are only running for Governor, so the contradiction vanishes.

“One” can mean “One or the other,” referring to jobs and people.

Florida law needs to be changed to allow counties flexibility at the local level.

The distinction between “and” and “or” is one of the most fundamental distinctions in logic. Without it, math, science, and even law make no sense at all.

Yes, I told Common Core here and here. They paid no attention.

Image created using AI.

Arnold Cusmariu is a frequent contributor to American Thinker. He is the author of Logic for Kids and the forthcoming 800-page magnum opus Echoes from Plato’s Cave.