title: Marriage amendment ballots of 2004: could state residents read them?
abstract: Close to 43% of adults have difficulties reading and understanding printed materials. Given the fact that so many American adults have difficulty reading basic text, we were interested in looking at the readability levels of the marriage amendment ballots of the 2004 election. Results indicated, with the exception of two states, a mismatch between the educational levels and the readability levels of the proposed amendments. Legal recognition of same-sex civil marriages can be considered a mental health public policy issue and therefore public health professionals should advocate for easier to read and understand ballots.
authors.affiliation: Georgia State University, P.O. Box 3979, Atlanta, GA 30302-3979, USA. dgreenberg@gsu.edu
authors.forename: Daphne
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Greenberg
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gazmararian
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Burke
mesh_terms: D032882:Comprehension; D005260:Female; D006716:Homosexuality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D008603:Mental Health; D011050:Policy Making; D011640:Public Policy; D014481:United States