Rabb announces fair ballot position legislation following Philly ballot lottery result

Rep. Christopher M. Rabb    March 16, 2023 | 11:31 AM

HARRISBURG, Mach 16 – Following the recent Philadelphia ballot lottery result, where little-known candidates lucked into top billing for the May 16 mayoral election, State Rep. Chris Rabb, D-Phila., is planning to reintroduce his rotating ballot positions legislation, which would establish a randomized candidate ballot position rotation system to ensure no candidate has an unfair advantage based on the luck of the ballot position draw.

The legislation would require the randomization of each precinct’s list of candidates, so that no individual precinct will reflect the same order on the ballot, ensuring that no candidate has the unfair advantage of topping every ballot.

“It is imperative that we take the initiative to infuse fairness into our election process, so that candidates are running on a level playing field,” Rabb said. “While drawing ballot positions from a Horn & Hardart coffee can is a quaint tradition, it’s an arcane, unnecessary and inequitable way to determine something as important as ballot position.”

Rabb previously introduced the bill as part of his package of innovative election-related legislation in the leadup to the November 2022 election.

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