HB 344 Would Eliminate Ballot Bias in Delaware
Legislation introduced in the Delaware General Assembly would eliminate ballot bias in Delaware elections. Numerous study’s show that the order in which candidates’ names appear on the ballot may impact election outcomes. By law in Delaware one political party always appears in the first column on machine ballots or the first line of absentee ballots.
In 1975 the California Supreme Court held that there’s a significant advantage to candidates who have a top ballot position. The justices further concluded that without incumbents running, approximately 5% of a candidate’s vote share could be attributed to their position on the ballot. Soon afterward, California enacted a law to randomize the listing of candidates on its ballots. The Golden State uses a system where a randomized drawing of letters of the alphabet is conducted, with the resulting order of letters constituting a “randomized alphabet” for determining the order of candidates’ names.
House Bill 344, sponsored by House Minority Leader Michael Ramone (R-21), proposes adopting a randomized system modeled after California’s, which has been successfully use for nearly 50 years. There are 15 other states that have enacted this reform and used it successfully.
Additional information from the House Republican Caucus:
The bill currently has 13 sponsors and co-sponsors, all Republican legislators. “It’s my hope this measure will gain bipartisan support as it moves through the system,” Rep. Ramone said. “There really is no excuse for any legislator to vote against a bill that will cost nothing to implement and will explicitly make our election system more fair.”
State Sen. Eric Buckson (R-16), the prime Senate sponsor of the bill, agreed. “There are 15 other states that have enacted this reform and successfully run it for many years. This bill needs to be considered and passed by both legislative chambers this year so Delaware can become the 16th state.”
