Vertical Proximity Effects in the California Recall Election
Name
vtp_wp8.pdf
Size
160.71 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
d21b91304fca0c805b37925491bb16d8
Author(s)
Sled, Sarah M.
Date Issued
October 27, 2003
Publisher
Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project
Series/Report no.
VTP Working Paper Series;8
Abstract
The 2003 California recall election provides a unique opportunity to assess the impact of variations in ballot design and voting methods on the voting accuracy of citizens. Analysis of the results of the California Recall election demonstrates that candidates who were vertically adjacent to the top three vote getters received “extra” votes in the recall election – a vertical proximity effect. Combined, these ‘neighbor’ candidates received approximately 4 votes per thousand votes the top candidate received. The pattern is consistent across the candidates neighboring Schwarzenegger, Bustamante, and McClintock, and is noticeably higher for punch cards than for optical scan or touch
screen voting technologies.
Subjects
California recall
Ballot order effects
Ballot design
Neighbor effects
Persistent DSpace Link
