Here is an explanation of the polling results in the Florida counties where the butterfly ballot was used. It is simple and correct, and we are shocked that we have not seen this explanation in all the hours of TV news since Nov. 7.

By Florida law, the first position on the presidential ballot is given to the party of the current governor, and hence is now the Republican candidate’s. The chances of confusion in punching the first hole are negligible.

The chances of confusion in voting for any other presidential candidate are not negligible. There is less confusion for the young and intelligent, and progressively more confusion for older voters. This situation favors the Republican vote. Equal numbers of people intending to vote for Bush and Gore will yield more Bush votes than Gore votes, and this discrepancy will increase with voter age.

The butterfly ballot as used in Florida is flawed and biased. What to do about this? Revote with unambiguous ballots. But we suppose this is impossible. Jere Mead Dorothea Mead Southwest Harbor