Reply #12: But the ballot is not inaccurate or screwed up. [View All]

Candidates allowed to be on the ballot are determined at a fixed point in time. Any candidate changes after that generally must be made via write in votes. Although Florida's law seems to be a bit different, the principle is the same - after a certain date you don't get to change who's on the ballot. The rules are there to permit an orderly voting process. It is hard enough to get ballots printed and tested on time when the cutoff date is followed (e.g. Cuyahoga County, Ohio had to hand count ballots because their ballots were misprinted and didn't have time to fix them; Summit County was about 2 weeks late with its absentee ballots because of printing errors.) Permitting changes after the cutoff date just invites real ballot screw ups because people have to work too quickly to use the care that needs to be taken with elections to make sure everything is done fairly. Even though this change is being done via another means, it still injects added risk that mistakes will be made. It is not worth the risk for an individual or party that missed the deadline.

If the ballot were inaccurate I would agree with you - but the ballots are accurate as of the cutoff date that applied to all candidates.