This is not anything that fountain pen users haven't encountered before, just a particular instance of it.
I received a form from my town clerk to apply for an absentee ballot, which of course everyone is supposed to be able to use this year if they choose. I haven't quite decided whether to send it in; I live in a small town and voting in person shouldn't be that much of an issue, even with a strong turnout. But I did fill the form out, put it in the postage paid envelope, and will decide presently whether to mail it.
I started filling it out with an Eversharp Symphony fountain pen, a vintage pen with a nib somewhere in the vicinity of a fine medium. My name and address were already there, pre-printed, and I was just adding my phone number, but the ink bled and spread horribly, looking like a very bold felt tip. I had to switch to a Jotter ballpoint with a Schmidt EasyFlow refill to add my Email address and to sign and date the form.
Much though I prefer fountain pens, this is why I always have a ballpoint with me too. At work, we have local forms printed on two different weights of paper. The ones on the 20 lb. weight won't work with an FP unless I have one with an extra fine nib. The ones on the 22 lb. paper work well enough with any of my fountain pens, including that Eversharp.
Maybe some local election authorities spring for better paper than ours.
I received a form from my town clerk to apply for an absentee ballot, which of course everyone is supposed to be able to use this year if they choose. I haven't quite decided whether to send it in; I live in a small town and voting in person shouldn't be that much of an issue, even with a strong turnout. But I did fill the form out, put it in the postage paid envelope, and will decide presently whether to mail it.
I started filling it out with an Eversharp Symphony fountain pen, a vintage pen with a nib somewhere in the vicinity of a fine medium. My name and address were already there, pre-printed, and I was just adding my phone number, but the ink bled and spread horribly, looking like a very bold felt tip. I had to switch to a Jotter ballpoint with a Schmidt EasyFlow refill to add my Email address and to sign and date the form.
Much though I prefer fountain pens, this is why I always have a ballpoint with me too. At work, we have local forms printed on two different weights of paper. The ones on the 20 lb. weight won't work with an FP unless I have one with an extra fine nib. The ones on the 22 lb. paper work well enough with any of my fountain pens, including that Eversharp.
Maybe some local election authorities spring for better paper than ours.
