Skip to main content Smithsonian Institution

Catalog Data

Printed by:
New York Board of Elections  Search this
Subject of:
President Barack Obama, American, born 1961  Search this
President Joseph R. Biden Jr, American, born 1942  Search this
John McCain, American, 1936 - 2018  Search this
Sarah Palin, American, born 1964  Search this
Democratic Party, American, founded 1828  Search this
Republican Party, American, founded 1854  Search this
Medium:
ink on paper (fiber product) cardboard
Dimensions:
H x W: 36 × 43 3/8 in. (91.5 × 110.1 cm)
H x W x D (partly rolled): 36 × 43 3/8 × 7 1/16 in. (91.5 × 110.1 × 18 cm)
Type:
documents
ballots
Place printed:
Manhattan, New York, United States, North and Central America
Date:
2008
Caption:
New York’s 31 Electoral Votes helped to secure the Presidential victory for Obama. In New York, then-Democratic nominee Barack Obama took 62.9% of the vote, defeating Republican nominee John McCain with a 26.9% margin. At the time, this was the highest Democratic vote share in New York since Johnson’s Victory over Goldwater in 1964. Four years later, Obama would defeat his own New York state record with 63.35% of the vote in 2012.
Description:
A sample ballot for the United States 2008 Presidential election in New York, New York. Printed in black ink on large off-white cardboard paper, the hyper visual ballot is designed with 11 top to bottom voting columns; voting machine instructions; voting party/group options from A to K, and an amendment proposal. Extensive voting machine instructions on the far left of the board are presented first in English, then again, in Spanish. To the right of the machine instructions, twenty rows of horizontal voting choices, A to K, list political parties and their candidates: Barack Obama/Joe Biden; John McCain/Sarah Palin; Roger Calero/Alsyon Kennedy; Gloria La Riva/Eugene Puryear; Ralph Nader/Matt Gonzalez; Cynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente; Bob Barr/Wayne A Root; Martin Schoenfeld; Marcy L. Kahn; Judith J. Gische; Shirley Werner Kornreich; Nora S. Anderson; Nancy M. Bannon, Charles B. Rangel; Bill Perkins; Adam Clayton Powell; Edward Daniels; Norma Soriano; George L. Espada, Sr.; Martin Koppel and Craig Schley. The last voting column on the far right, with the number one inside, offers “yes” or “no” in English and Spanish, on a proposed amendment to Article 5, section 6 of the Constitution. A blue ink stamp from the Board of Elections [SAMPLE BALLOT] features towards the lower half of the board, and at the bottom of the of the last column are Chinese and Korean characters, instructing the use of the voting machine lever. There are no markings on the reverse of the ballot.
Topic:
African American  Search this
Activism  Search this
Government  Search this
Multilingual communication  Search this
Politics  Search this
U.S. History, 2001-  Search this
Credit Line:
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Karen J. Greene, Ph.D.
Object number:
2019.103.1
Restrictions & Rights:
No Known Copyright Restrictions
Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
See more items in:
National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification:
Memorabilia and Ephemera-Political and Activist Ephemera
Data Source:
National Museum of African American History and Culture
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5eb5e9b4c-833b-4098-8f08-cb4e59fa3509
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:nmaahc_2019.103.1