Alphabetically Ordered Ballots and the Composition of American Legislatures

    Authors

    B. C. Edwards

    Comments

    Authors: contact us about adding a copy of your work at STARS@ucf.edu

    Abbreviated Journal Title

    State Polit. Policy Q.

    Keywords

    electoral systems; representation; elections; election rules; political; behavior; POSITIONAL VOTING BIAS; RELATIVE AGE; ELECTION OUTCOMES; CALIFORNIA; VOTE; PATTERNS; SUCCESS; Political Science

    Abstract

    Although research demonstrates that favorable ballot position can deliver candidates a small windfall of votes in local, nonpartisan, and primary elections, it is not clear whether ballot order laws have had any impact on the composition of U.S. legislatures. In this article, I estimate the substantive significance of ballot order rules by comparing the legislators of states that alphabetically order ballots to those elected by states that randomize or rotate ballot order. I also compare legislators elected by states that started or stopped alphabetically ordering ballots in recent decades. I find that states that alphabetically order ballots disproportionately elect candidates with early alphabet surnames. My research challenges the prevailing belief that ballot order affects only minor elections and suggests that seemingly innocuous rules have altered our political landscape. I conclude that arbitrary ballot ordering rules should be reformed to remedy their substantial impact on political representation.

    Journal Title

    State Politics & Policy Quarterly

    Volume

    15

    Issue/Number

    2

    Publication Date

    1-1-2015

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    171

    Last Page

    191

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000354277200003

    ISSN

    1532-4400

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