Federal judge declares Florida ballots unconstitutional, orders change

[Roland99]

Source: Washington Post

A federal judge in Florida ordered the state Friday to change the way candidates are listed on election ballots — a decision that Democrats in the crucial swing state say will finally take away an unfair advantage Republicans have enjoyed for years.

...

The current law says that whichever party holds the governor’s office can list its candidates first on the ballot in general elections. That hurts an opposing party, U.S. District Court Judge Mark E. Walker said.

He gave Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee two weeks to tell elections supervisors in all 67 counties that the current “ballot scheme” is unconstitutional. She has three weeks to come up with a new plan.

Walker heard testimony from researchers who said the “primacy effect” is real and can give a candidate a statistical advantage as great as 5.4 percentage points. Many voters tend to vote for the first name on the list of candidates, they said.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal-judge-declares-florida-ballots-unconstitutional-orders-change/2019/11/15/0b91dc0a-0810-11ea-924a-28d87132c7ec_story.html

[radical noodle]

1. I never even noticed that about the ballots

I find it shocking to hear that voters tend to vote for the first name on the list.

[orleans]

2. same here. n/t

[rpannier]

3. It happened in Illinois late 70's or early 80's

2 la rouchites running for the Democratic nomination won the primary. When people were asked why they voted for them, many responded, "They were the first two names on the ballot." The ballot was done alphabetically

[kurtcagle]

4. More to it than that

Both of the La Rouchites had very stock English surnames, while their opponents had a very foreign surname. I lived in Illinois at the time - it was quite the scandal.

[AZ8theist]

11. You're surprised?

That the US is full of low information idiots? Back in 2004, while at a sporting event, the conversation turned to politics. One of my friends acquaintances said loudly "I VOTED FOR GEORGE W!!".....I then asked him, Why?
He couldn't think of a single reason.

[radical noodle]

12. Yikes!

Yes, I really am surprised. I don't know a soul who would do that, and even if they didn't know the candidates, they'd likely vote by party.

[riversedge]

5. great news.

[NurseJackie]

9. Here's a link to story WITHOUT A PAYWALL (Tallahassee Democrat)

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2019/11/15/judge-rejects-old-florida-law-gave-ballot-priority-party-power/4205799002/

[DeminPennswoods]

6. Since this is a federal court ruling, it will apply to all states

using this same method, including Pennsylvania. IMO, this was a very poorly thought out strategy. It won't flip Florida and could cost Dems Pennsylvania - again - and reverse gains Dems made in the state house and senate in 2018.

[getagrip_already]

7. Really? I thought fed courts worked by district?

So a ruling in the 4th district would only effect states under its jurisdiction, not the whole country. Is that not the case?

[DeminPennswoods]

8. To start, but now that there is that ruling, why wouldn't Rs

go to the federal court districts in other states where this method disadvantages them? Now they have this precedent to use.

But, tbh, given the US Supreme Courts refusal to get involved in partisan gerry-mandering, this ruling might well be overturned.

If these lawyers wanted to challenge the ballot listings, they should have sued in state, not federal, court.

[Igel]

10. If there are any.

We wouldn't hear about that here. It's like gerrymandering--if you only check out one kind of source, all the evidence says that gerrymandering is a moral issue for (D), so that (D) would never do the immoral thing while (R) are responsible for all gerrymandering.