Arizona Ballot Order Varies by County, Raising Questions of Fairness and Voter Influence
The order in which candidates appear on general election ballots in Arizona varies by county, a system determined by the performance of each party's gubernatorial candidate in that specific county during the most recent election. For the upcoming election, ballots in Apache, Coconino, Maricopa, Pima, and Santa Cruz counties will list Democrat Katie Hobbs first, as she won in those counties in 2022. Conversely, residents in the other 10 counties will see Republican Andy Biggs listed first, reflecting Kari Lake's victory there four years prior. This system extends to all other candidates on the ballot within those counties. Democrats previously challenged this system in federal court in 2019, citing research on the 'primacy effect,' which suggests voters tend to favor the first-listed candidate. However, the case was dismissed due to a lack of legal standing.
