Remember Palm Beach County in the 2000 election fiasco and the infamous Butterfly Ballot design? I vividly recall one quote from an aggrieved voter about how he ALWAYS voted Democrat by punching the same hole. I believe that the voter was a recent move from up north where you could flip one lever(?) and vote solid party. No reading, no thinking needed!
The "infamous" Butterfly design was proposed by a Democratic county clerk in a Democrat controlled county. The design was submitted for review and approval to the Secretary of State, who happened to be a Republican. It was also reviewed and approved by both parties including, presumably, representatives of any candidate who bothered to take an interest. The fact that most people took the whole process for granted is no excuse.
The Butterfly design is therefore not a boneheaded stupidity that should be used to vilify a county-level election official. The design was not unique to Palm Beach County. It was not invented by anyone in Palm Beach County. I presume that there is, somewhere, a big sample book of design templates maintained by (to invent a name) The National Association of Do-Gooder County Clerks for Fair Elections. Or its functional equivalent.
In the case of Palm Beach County in 2000, the ballot was very crowded and more conventional designs would have required smaller print, which is a problem in the Geriatric State, or would have pushed some names to a second page, which is a HUGE disadvantage. The butterfly design saved space and got the presidential candidates all on the same page. It was a perfectly rational choice. It was used elsewhere around the country for similar reasons. There is nothing wrong with it. An arrow points from a candidate's name to the appropriate box to mark or punch. You can train a particularly stupid Golden Retriever to follow the arrow. Democrats should be able to manage it.
The hysterical attacks on the ballot design in the Florida fiasco in 2000 were entirely fraudulent. The attack was cynical disinformation intended to create smoke and persuade people that there was a problem, as a smokescreen for Democrats changing election law and processes after the fact. Every person who made this complaint was a deliberate liar or a perfect incompetent stooge, or both.