JACKSONVILLE, Fla.—Molly Mckahan considers herself an educated first-time voter. She’s followed the conventions and knows the candidates…at least she thought she did.
"Wow, that's crazy,” she exclaimed when Action News showed her the actual ballot.
In Florida, there are 12 presidential candidates on this year’s ballot.
"I’ve never even heard of, like, half of those people,” said Mckahan.
She’s not alone. Florida has the second-most crowded presidential ballot in the country with even 90’s sitcom star Roseanne Barr on the list.
So, to find out what it takes to get on a presidential ballot here in Florida, we went to University of North Florida’s Assistant Professor of Political Science Michael Binder.
"If you are a member of a party, if that party is recognized and you're on the ballot in another state, all you have to do is apply and you're in,” said Binder.
Currently, Florida has some of the weakest ballot access rules nationwide. This leads to a lot of clutter. According to Jerry Holland, the Supervisor of Elections in Duval County, when you include the 11 amendments, the ballot is 4 pages long and more than 3,000 words. Holland says it takes a total of 16 minutes to read it cover to cover.
But despite the length, Binder says he isn’t concerned voters will get bogged down by the ballot.
"Voters are not as bad as people think they are. They do pretty well weeding through all of this stuff,” said Binder.
However, Binder does recommend having a plan going in, which includes knowing in advance who you are going to vote for.
