Some Victoria councillors say they’re prepared to roll the dice on election ballot placement if it levels the playing field.
While it’s probably too late to implement any change ahead of the Oct. 20 election, some council members say they’d be willing to explore using a random order on ballots instead of the traditional alphabetical listing.
“I think it has a lot of interest and might have some merit,” said Coun. Marianne Alto.
Vancouver councillors opted this past week to list mayoral, councillor and park commissioner candidates on October’s election ballot in random order instead of alphabetical order.
Alto, of course, would stand to lose her traditional spot at the top of the ballot if the change were made.
“It seems to me it’s certainly worth considering,” she said. “Obviously there are varying opinions on the utility of where you are on the ballot. I think you can argue both sides.”
Coun. Ben Isitt, who topped the polls in 2014, said the idea has merit.
“I think there probably is some advantage [to being on the top half of the ballot]. I’m not sure how much,” he said.
Isitt questioned whether voters would have trouble finding their preferred candidate on a randomized list. “But I think it’s a manageable problem. So I think it’s an option worth looking at.”
Coun. Geoff Young, usually at the bottom of what can be a long list of ballot choices, said he and Alto would likely be the most affected by such a change, but he doesn’t think it would make much of a difference.
“The first name on the ballot is generally considered to be the best spot. The last name, I think, is considered to be second best,” Young said.
“I don’t think it makes a tremendous difference, but maybe a little bit.”
As this will be the first year the city uses a randomized ballot, Vancouver councillors have budgeted $175,000 for communications and public outreach and $60,000 to have additional staff at voting places to help voters. The confirmed randomized list of names will be circulated well ahead of the election to ensure voters know what to expect at the voting place.
A Vancouver staff report notes that the Township of Langley had a randomized ballot between 1993 and 2011, but reverted to alphabetical order after voters complained they had difficulty finding candidates’ names.
Vancouver’s elections generally have close to 100 candidates, according to the staff report.
In 2014, there were 24 candidates for Victoria council and eight for mayor.
Mayor Lisa Helps said she doesn’t have a preference one way or the other. To be in place for October’s election, any changes would have to be made by July 8, making the timeline extremely tight.
