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House approves ballot‑placement bill to reduce first‑position advantage
Summary
The House passed First Substitute HB143 to standardize name placement on ballots by having the Lieutenant Governor publish randomized alphabets; sponsors said the change reduces positional bias and adds transparency; the bill passed 65‑6.
The Utah House on Feb. 23 approved First Substitute House Bill 143, which requires the Lieutenant Governor to publish two randomized alphabets that county clerks will use to order candidate names on ballots. Sponsor Representative Eliason said decades of research show a measurable advantage to candidates listed first on ballots.
"There is a definite bias to the candidate whose name is placed on the ballot in the first position," Eliason said, citing studies that estimate the effect at roughly 1 percent to 7 percent depending on race type. The bill would remove discretionary placement by county clerks and create a transparent, auditable randomized ordering.
Members asked practical questions about how the system would work with sample ballots and whether future work could randomize order per‑voter. Eliason said the current bill determines order in advance (so sample ballots remain meaningful) and applies statewide, including school board contests; he said a future bill could look at per‑voter randomization if technology and sample‑ballot law permit.
Representative Nelson, whose name is late in the alphabet, and others endorsed the measure. Representative Watkins asked whether different voters would see different name orders; Eliason said not under this bill but suggested future work could pursue that approach. After discussion, the bill was read for the third time and passed 65‑6; it will be transmitted to the Senate.
