Alphabetically ordered ballots make elections less fair anddistort the composition of American legislatures

It is relatively well known that candidates who are first on the ballot tend to enjoy a vote advantage compared to those whose names begin with letters later in the alphabet. But how much of a difference has this made to election results? In new research which analyzes the names of members of Congress from 1949 to 2012 and state legislators from 1967 to 2010, Barry Edwards finds that alphabetical ballot lists account for the results in 10 Congressional seats and more than 70 seats in state legislatures. He argues that alphabetically ordered ballots undermine the principle of fair elections, and that reform of ballot order rules is needed.