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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | April 26, 2023 01:47 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Jared G. Solomon and Rep. Ryan E. Mackenzie |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Ballot Rotation |
| In the near future, we plan to introduce legislation to improve the fairness of our election administration by increasing the rotation of candidate ballot order. Statistical analysis of elections across the country have demonstrated that the order in which candidates are listed on a ballot can have substantial impact on the outcome of a race- this is particularly true for down ballot races. In light of this, a number of states have recently considered reforms to eliminate any unfairness created by ballot order. Pennsylvania should join these states. Under our legislation, for candidates running in more than one county in a primary election, the Secretary of the Department of State would create a list of counties ordered by the number of registered electors able to vote for an office organized from most registered electors to least. Lots would then be drawn to determine the order of the names of the candidates to appear on the ballot with the most populous county drawing a lot first. For all successive counties on the list, candidate names would be rotated so the candidate listed first in the county with the most registered electors would appear last in the county with the second most registered electors eligible to vote. This process would continue for each county in the list. Finally, this legislation would require the board to conduct a study regarding the feasibility of implementing a precinct rotation system for the order of listing candidates on the ballot in both primary and general elections for each type of office. Please join us in co-sponsoring this important reform. |
Introduced as HB1270