BEING LISTED FIRST ON BALLOT IS ADVANTAGE.

Candidates whose names appear first on an election ballot may attract more voters simply because they're listed before their rivals are. Researchers found that, in 48% of the Ohio races they studied, the name placement on the ballot significantly affected vote totals. In nearly all the cases, the candidate who was listed first had the advantage.

On average, candidates received 2.33% more votes when their names appeared first on the ballots than when they were listed last, notes Jon Krosnick, professor of psychology and political science, Ohio State University, Columbus. In some races, candidates received as many as six percent more votes when listed first than when listed last.

Findings showed that three percent of the races studied would have had different results if a single name order had been used. However, on Ohio ballots, candidate names are rotated so that each...