Representative Marshall Burt’s Speech to the Wyoming House of Representatives in Support of Ballot Order Randomization.

:Speaker, colleagues,

Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to present this bill.  In the current political climate, there is a strong appetite for legislation that improves the fairness and integrity of our elections. This legislation gives Wyoming the opportunity to lead in the effort to improve our elections in a unifying and equitable way. When I was fortunate enough to present this bill to committee, I was joined by world renowned experts on what is called “ballot order effect”. “Ballot Order Effect” is the electoral impact caused by the position your name appears on the ballot. Over one thousand studies have been conducted on this phenomenon and over 85% of those studies have come to firm conclusions that a candidates name appearing first on the ballot improves final results by anywhere between 2 and 10% of the vote.

If the code is not secure enough, it allows for the opportunity to manipulate results easily. After reviewing the current Wyoming election code, three different statutes contradict one another. Hence, this bill also becomes a clean-up bill, giving clear directives to election officials and allowing them to conduct fair and secure elections. 

Dr. Jon Krosnick from Stanford University, Dr. Josh Pasek from the University of Michigan, and Dr. Darren Grant from San Houston State University testified to the Corporations committee and provided information on the ample research that shows an inherent bias from ballot order. Dr. Krosnick testified that he has been called an expert witness in several states, including North Dakota, West Virginia, and Florida, in successful, costly lawsuits resulting in court-mandated election procedure changes. Their work concludes that, much like taking a multiple-choice test, voters who are less informed or still deciding about their choices will select the first option on the ballot, which skews election results.