See here. The blog post reports that ” I-1033 opponents had raised alarms that this poorly designed ballot layout might depress the vote on the measure in our state’s most populous and anti-1033 county, causing many voters to miss the question entirely. And now that a large chunk of the results are in, it is clear that their fears were well founded.”
I wonder if the opponents thought to sue over the ballot design. I think pre-election lawsuits are the only way to effectively deal with a problem like this and deter bad ballot design in future elections.
Thanks to Dan Smith for the pointer.