This is What Democracy Looked Like: A Visual History of the Printed Ballot
()
About this ebook
Alicia Yin Cheng
Alicia Yin Cheng is a founding partner of MGMT. design in Brooklyn, New York. She currently serves as an external critic for the MFA program at the Rhode Island School of Design and has taught at Yale University, Maryland Institute College of Art, Barnard College, and Cooper Union. Cheng was a past board member of the AIGA/NY chapter and the Fine Arts Federation.
Related to This is What Democracy Looked Like
Related ebooks
Posters for the People: Art of the WPA Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cultural Impact of Kanye West Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTypeset in the Future: Typography and Design in Science Fiction Movies Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Words to Win By: The Slogans, Logos, and Designs of America's Presidential Elections Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA 1950s Childhood: From Tin Baths to Bread and Dripping Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5W. E. B. Du Bois's Data Portraits: Visualizing Black America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How TV Can Make You Smarter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Minard System: The Complete Statistical Graphics of Charles-Joseph Minard Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Sky Full of Kindness Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Rise of the Public Authority: Statebuilding and Economic Development in Twentieth-Century America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsO Glorious City: A Love Letter to San Francisco Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe History of Girls' Comics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jokes and the Unconscious: A Graphic Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Consumed Nostalgia: Memory in the Age of Fast Capitalism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCreative Grab Bag: Inspiring Challenges for Artists, Illustrators and Designers Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Posters for Peace: Visual Rhetoric and Civic Action Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAll the Art That's Fit to Print (And Some That Wasn't): Inside The New York Times Op-Ed Page Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Art from Uranus: Fine Art Dumbed Down for the General Population Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Baseline Shift: Untold Stories of Women in Graphic Design History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCritical design in Japan: Material culture, luxury, and the avant-garde Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Start a Revolution: Young People and the Future of American Politics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Designer Says: Quotes, Quips, and Words of Wisdom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Montgomery Modern: Modern Architecture In Montgomery County, Maryland, 1930–1979 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Worker Center Handbook: A Practical Guide to Starting and Building the New Labor Movement Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAll of Us or None: Social Justice Posters of the San Francisco Bay Area Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Only at Comic-Con: Hollywood, Fans, and the Limits of Exclusivity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsProtest!: A History of Social and Political Protest Graphics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSignal: 07: A Journal of International Political Graphics and Culture Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCIA Makes Science Fiction Unexciting #6, The: The Life of Lee Harvey Oswald Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMake Change! Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Design For You
Architecture 101: From Frank Gehry to Ziggurats, an Essential Guide to Building Styles and Materials Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Designer's Dictionary of Color Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Expressive Digital Painting in Procreate Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ogilvy on Advertising in the Digital Age Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Feck Perfuction: Dangerous Ideas on the Business of Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The New Bohemians Handbook: Come Home to Good Vibes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lettering Alphabets & Artwork: Inspiring Ideas & Techniques for 60 Hand-Lettering Styles Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Crochet: Fun & Easy Patterns For Beginners Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hand Lettering on the iPad with Procreate: Ideas and Lessons for Modern and Vintage Lettering Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Victorian Lady's Guide to Fashion and Beauty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Elements of Style: Designing a Home & a Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lolita - The Story of a Cover Girl: Vladimir Nabokov's Novel in Art and Design Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Brush Pen Lettering: A Step-by-Step Workbook for Learning Decorative Scripts and Creating Inspired Styles Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Graphic Design Rules: 365 Essential Design Dos and Don'ts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bazooka Joe and His Gang Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Picture This: How Pictures Work Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Live Beautiful Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shut Your Monkey: How to Control Your Inner Critic and Get More Done Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5101 Midjourney Prompt Secrets Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Down to Earth: Laid-back Interiors for Modern Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Writing That Works, 3rd Edition: How to Communicate Effectively in Business Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Become An Exceptional Designer: Effective Colour Selection For You And Your Client Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Line Color Form: The Language of Art and Design Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Build a Car: The Autobiography of the World’s Greatest Formula 1 Designer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Creative Workshop: 80 Challenges to Sharpen Your Design Skills Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for This is What Democracy Looked Like
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
This is What Democracy Looked Like - Alicia Yin Cheng
THE PHYSICAL DIMENSION OF DEMOCRACY
Julian E. Zelizer
Among the most enduring images from the controversial 2000 presidential election was the butterfly
ballot. The design of the ballot that was used in Palm Beach County, Florida, created an utter disaster. Theresa LePore, the Palm Beach election supervisor who was responsible for the design, had meant to make things easier. I was trying to make the print bigger so elderly people in Palm Beach County can read it,
she said.¹ But many elderly voters were confused by the way that the candidates’ names were lined up. A substantial number of these voters, who were Jewish and liberal, accidentally offered their support to third-party candidate Pat Buchanan, a conservative with a checkered history of anti-Semitism, instead of the Democratic candidate, Vice President Al Gore.
The bitter fight that unfolded about the design of this ballot and others in Florida was a vivid reminder of the physical dimension of democracy. During the recount process that followed election day, Americans watched on television as officials used magnifying glasses to figure out what these and other ballots said about the intention of voters. While many of the histories of this country revolve around the great ideas of our political system or the institutional design that the founders created with the Constitution, we know too little about the actual mechanisms through which people participate in making our government work.
The ballot is among the most fundamental components of our democracy. The ballot has literally been the way that people make their choice about who should lead them and how the government will register the final decision of the electorate. The ballot itself, which has been paper for most of our history, has been inscribed into the memorabilia that collectors find and history museums preserve. But the history of the ballot is something that we must pay much greater attention to. As the controversy over the 2000 election revealed, the structure and design of the ballot can have enormous consequences for how our politics function or fail us.
In times before ballots were secret, this piece of paper could be used as a mechanism of intimidation and persuasion, since everyone could see who a voter was supporting. Parties also used the ballot to trick voters in certain cases. In 1857 some Democrats printed ballots with a font meant to look like the one on Republican ballots so that voters would be confused.² The color of the document or the size of the print also had the potential to mark the voting process. Throughout our history, the way in which the names of parties and candidates were listed and the visuals that were used could favor certain parties or persons and make it difficult for others to gain attention. For African Americans, women, and poor Americans, the paper ballot had enormous importance at different moments as the pathway to full citizenship. Mere access to this treasured piece of paper was what separated those who were disenfranchised from those who wielded the political power.
Americans fought over the design of the ballot as part of the ongoing contest over power. At the same time that some party leaders were determined to preserve ballots that could be easily corrupted, reformers fought for ones that would protect the ability of voters to make their decisions and ensure that every vote was counted. Even the way in which individuals cast their ballots evolved, with greater protections created over time. In 1888, when municipal elections in Louisville, Kentucky, became the first to use the Australian Ballot, which was cast in secret, one writer noted: The election last Tuesday was the first municipal election I have ever known which was not bought outright.
³ In recent years, however, the displacement of the paper ballot by the electronic voting machine has raised all sorts of new issues, including the possibility of hacking by overseas governments.
The following pages offer one of the best visual histories of the ballot that we have available. Readers are taken on a wonderful tour of what voting looked like and what enfranchised America saw when they made their decisions. Through these images, we see the design, the evolution, and the complexities of American democracy in action. The book is a reminder that on election day, the ways in which we process our choices have had as many consequences as what politicians promise and the factors that guide the final decision of the electorate.
Diagram of sample polling arrangement, 1889.
THE MOST FUGITIVE EPHEMERA
Alicia Yin Cheng
It is the most potent of all sheets of paper: the ballot.¹
PHILIP LORING ALLEN, 1906
CORN AND BEANS
As a material tool of democracy, the ballot should not, by its nature, be collectible. Legally required to be destroyed within a certain period after an election, surviving tickets are usually the result of an election officer who used a ballot to write down a tally and kept that record in his personal papers. Early ballots were easier to pocket, before regulations made election officers liable for all unaccounted ballots. Others must have been kept surreptitiously, but it is hard to know precisely just how these ballots managed to survive. One collector aptly described the election ballot as "the