The Primacy Effect, as it’s known, is at the center of the lawsuit filed by Democrats.
/Ed Clemente / MGN
By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services via Colorado Public Radio
The Bible may say that the last shall be first and the first shall be last.
But an expert on election law told a federal judge Thursday that studies have shown that is not the case, at least when it comes to picking candidates.
In fact, John Krosnick testified that, everything else being equal, there is a bias of voters to choose the first name on the ballot.
It’s not much, he said. Perhaps anywhere from 2 to 6 percent. And some of it depends on how familiar voters are with particular candidates.
But it’s enough for national Democratic groups to argue to U.S. District Court Judge Diane Humetewa that she she void an Arizona law that results in Republicans being listed first on general election ballots in 11 of the state’s 15 counties, including the most populous.
Attorneys for Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who is defending the law, had their own witness who questioned the reliability of such studies, not just be Krosnick but by others. They hope to convince Humetewa there is no built-in bias and the current system is both manageable and legal.
The legal fight comes just ahead of what could be some extremely close races.
