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1949 Florida Law Gives GOP Top Billing On Ballot - This Year

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 31, 2008

TAMPA - In Tuesday's general election, Republican candidates in Florida will have a built-in advantage on the ballot over their Democratic and third-party competitors.

That's because GOP candidates will be listed first in partisan races. The order is determined by a half-century-old state law that says candidates in the same political party as the governor are entitled to top billing on the ballot.

By law, the party that came in second during the last gubernatorial race is second on the ballot. Independent and third-party candidates are placed in the order they are certified.

Eric Jotkoff, a spokesman for the Florida Democratic Party, said he doesn't believe the second-place billing of Democrats on the ballot will make a difference in the outcome.

"In this election, I think the majority of voters in the state are more concerned with the candidates and the issues than where their names appear on the ballot," he said.

Still, some say it could be a potential handicap for either major political party.

"In a really close election, it could be enough to skew the outcome," said Darryl Paulson, a political science professor at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg.

There have been studies indicating that there is a slight statistical benefit to a top listing, Paulson said, but in most cases the difference only adds up to a few percentage points.

Florida is not alone in the practice.

In 2006, New Hampshire's Supreme Court threw out a similar law after determining it gave incumbents an unfair advantage. In that state, incumbents were listed first.

Some states list names on the ballot alphabetically. Others alternate them.

"Some even decide with a coin toss," said Kay Stimson, a spokeswoman for the National Association of Secretaries of States. "The process varies greatly from state to state."

California uses a lottery system to determine the order of candidates. The letters of the alphabet are picked at random in a drawing to create an order for balloted candidates.

If Florida Democrats view the lineup as a disadvantage, they have themselves to blame.

The law, which dates to 1949, was passed in the heyday of the state's Democrat-controlled Legislature, when the party also held a firm grip on the governor's mansion.

The tide turned in 1998, when Jeb Bush was elected governor. Since then, GOP candidates have gotten top billing on the ballot in races from the president to county commissions.

Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (813) 259-7679.

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