The Law and Economics of 'Informed Voter' Ballot Notations

Abstract

Given their limited attention to political matters, most people vote on the basis of certain voting cues, such as incumbency or party affiliation. They hope that such shortcuts will allow them to vote in the same way that they would if they had full information about the candidates and their positions. In other words, they search for cues that will allow them to vote competently even with limited information. This article analyzes whether the ballot could be used to provide voters with information about candidates' positions on certain issues. Some interest groups, most notably those supporting term limits, have advocated "informed voter" ballot notations that would inform voters, via a notation on the ballot, about the candidates' positions on particular issues. Considering ballot notations in their best light, we discover that they could serve two salutary objectives. First, they could provide voters with relevant information, giving the electorate a better sense of the candidates' ideology. Second, ballot notations could empower a broader number of political participants, allowing entities other than candidates, political parties, and the media to shape the campaign agenda. Grassroots groups with intense preferences on an issue or set of issues could use the ballot to focus candidates' attention on their agenda. Accordingly, these groups would have a greater ability to influence the public agenda, in the same way that the prospect of an endorsement by a minor party can influence the policies supported by the candidates of the major parties. The Article then focuses on substantial problems that have become apparent through experience with the term limits notations. Finally, the Article concludes by analyzing potential solutions to the problems of informed voter ballot notations. Given the possibility of improved voter competence, these solutions--to allow the content of ballot notations to be determined by a periodic public opinion poll or to allow each candidate space on the ballot to communicate with voters--are worthy of consideration.