Flipping a coin

Does it make any difference where a candidate's name is in the ballot box? It might.

When I voted early last week (and, no, that's not me in the photo), I noticed there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the order of the candidates listed. It wasn't necessarily the incumbent's name listed first (if there was one) nor was it done alphabetically.

So how it's done? I asked one of the candidates a few days ago and was told that it's basically a random drawing, a flip of the coin that determines a candidate's place on the ballot. Apparently, an amendment a few years ago determined that. Must have missed that one.

Obviously, for the bigger races like governor, state rep, and any publicized local races, positioning of the candidate's name won't matter.

But there's always more than a few races, most of them statewide, where I got no clue. None. I'm sure more than a few others are the same way. I wonder how many maybe subliminally just vote for the first name they see?

Put it this way: If I were running for dog catcher, I'd want my name listed first.