Very few days in the local election contests are as meaningful as yesterday when candidates participated in a random drawing for ballot position. Why is this so important? The answer is simple: Regardless of the issues, the personalities, or the name: Those at the top of the ballot get more votes. Those at the bottom of the ballot find that voters in this mostly Republican county are by and large ‘lever pullers’, meaning they vote for the first names on the ballot with party affiliation. *UPDATE/CORRECTION: The Board of Elections made a point of clarification that is important in this context. “…in a Primary election the candidates go across in a row and not down in a column……. there is a difference in Primary ballot to General Ballots.”
Despite the gossip about software issues and candidates who were considering objections to the random drawing, Board of Elections officials reported ” We are unaware of any official complaints about the lot draw yesterday. We had a great turnout for the draw; We had no questions or complaints prior to leaving for the day.”
