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There has been some question on the part of our bloggers regarding the order of the names of the candidates on the ballot. The order of the names is alphabetical but the list may start with a different candidate, then proceed alphabetically. The list rotates.
We asked Town Clerk Julie Bower about this. We wanted to remove the "mystery." The following is Julie's response.
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Candidate names are rotated pursuant to state law. Specifically:
A.R.S. 16-464. Rotation of names on ballots
A. When there are two or more candidates for a nomination, except in the case of precinct committeemen, the names of all candidates for the nomination shall be so alternated upon the ballots used in each election precinct that the name of each candidate shall appear substantially an equal number of times at the top, at the bottom and in each intermediate place of the list or group of candidates in which they belong. When there are fewer than or the same number of candidates seeking office as the number to be elected, rotation of names is not required and the names shall be placed in alphabetical order.
The rotation has no impact on the counting of the ballots. The ballot readers are set up to read and tally the different ballot types.
Thanks, Julie
Julie K. Bower, MMC
Town Clerk
11000 N. La Canada Dr.
Oro Valley, AZ 85737
520-229-4740
jbower@orovalleyaz.gov
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2 comments:
Thanks for checking on this. I just hope that this system is set up so that there can be no glitches along the way. How would anyone actually know if the machine somehow did not reset itself from one ballot to the next?
For anyone interested, Brad Nelson, Pima County Election Dep't responded to my query as noted below.
Mr. Segal – I understand that you phoned my office a few days ago to inquire about candidate rotation on election ballots and how the tabulation equipment keeps track of the rotation.
Please find attached a short explanation about rotation and how the tabulation equipment tally’s votes appropriately.
I hope you find the information useful.
Candidate Rotation Example:
For the fictitious office of “City Dog Catcher” three candidates are seeking the office. They are:
Adams
Barnes
Conner
For our example there are three precincts in the city election.
The ballots for precinct number 1 have the candidates listed/printed as
(Software ID 001) Adams
(Software ID 002) Barnes
(Software ID 003) Conner
The ballots in precinct number 2 have the candidates listed/printed as
(Software ID 002) Barnes
(Software ID 003) Conner
(Software ID 001) Adams
The ballots in precinct number 3 have the candidates listed/printed as
(Software ID 003) Conner
(Software ID 001) Adams
(Software ID 002) Barnes
The software that tabulates the votes keeps track of the candidate ID number (001, 002 or 003) to give the candidate the appropriate votes regardless of where their name appears on the ballot.
Brad R. Nelson, Director
Pima County Election Dept.
Tucson , Arizona
520.724.6830
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