West Virginia lists parties on the ballot in order of how well they did for President in the last presidential election. Republicans have carried West Virginia in each of the last three presidential elections, so Republicans in recent years have had the top spot on the ballot. Ten Democratic Representatives have recently introduced HB 4137, which says parties should be on the ballot in order of how many registered voters they have. Registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans almost 2:1 in West Virginia.
A better bill would provide for either rotation, or random selection.
Or alphabetical order. I’d look forward to the Aardvark party vying for the top spot with the the Aaron Burr party.
#1 In West Virginia they probably use pictures.
Hmm. Michigan puts parties in order of their finish in the most recent election of that near-top-of-ticket position, Secretary of State. After that, for parties that didn’t have a candidate for SOS last off-year (i.e., 2006 for now until this year’s election), the order goes “relatively by the same rule” per MCL 168.703 — which I believe the Bureau of Elections has decided means in order of their top finishers in other statewide races in that same election.
Does anyone know a good source of information on how many states use what kind of artificial order, and how many have some sort of rotation to try to eliminate any advantages for the party listed first? (And how do they rotate? Precinct by precinct?)
with a 2:1 Democrat- Republican ratio you would think the Democrats would be able to get the top spot back simply by getting their voters to the polls.
“No Party” is actually the #3 party in voter registration in West Virginia. It refers to no party affiliation (aka “unaffiliated”) which replaced “Independent” as a voter registration category circa 2000 when it was ruled that since there really is an “Independent Party” elsewhere in the country, that the WVSOS could no longer use that term. I actually have a letter from my county clerk which says “Your new party is No Party.” Been meaning to get that framed.
The total registered voters in West Virginia include 665,234 Democrats, 347,760 Republicans and 156,199 who are unaffiliated…
http://www.newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/504893.html
THE DEMPCRATS WILL PROBABLY HAVE THEIR WAY. WHAT A SHAME