Many factors influence voters in student elections held every spring, but the placement of the candidates’ names on the ballot should not be one of them. Recognizing that the names at the top would receive more votes from lazy voters and that an alphabetical ordering of names would give an unfair advantage to anyone named Aaron, the University Board of Elections and the Information Technology and Communication staff that runs its Web site shuffle the names on the ballot, presenting them in random order to each voter.
They do not do the same, however, for each referendum. It may seem trivial, but even when the choice is between “yes” and “no,” the option on the top might also have the upper hand — especially if voters are reluctant to read the referendum. Presenting the choices in random order is a quick fix to a problem that may be distorting students’ views.
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