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BallotMaps: detecting name bias in alphabetically ordered ballot papers.
Jo Wood1, Donia Badawood, Jason Dykes
1giCentre, School of Informatics, City University London. jwo@city.ac.uk
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics
|October 29, 2011
Summary
Ballot paper position significantly impacts UK election results, influencing candidate rank and even election outcomes. Ethnicity also plays a role, affecting votes received by candidates.
Area of Science:
- Political Science
- Electoral Studies
- Data Visualization
Background:
- Ballot order can introduce bias in elections.
- Geographic and demographic factors may influence voter behavior.
- Previous research on alphabetic bias has yielded mixed results.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of candidate ballot position on vote rank in UK local elections.
- To assess the geographical variation of position bias.
- To explore the influence of candidate ethnicity on election outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 5000 candidates from UK 2010 Greater London local elections.
- Utilized hierarchical spatially arranged graphics to visualize electoral and ballot data.
- Assessed position bias and its geographical variations.
Main Results:
- Candidate position bias significantly affected candidate rank order and election results in marginal wards.
- Position bias was most pronounced for Liberal Democrat candidates but present across major parties.
- Candidate ethnicity influenced vote share, sometimes outweighing alphabetic bias.
Conclusions:
- Ballot position bias is a significant factor in electoral outcomes.
- Ethnicity and geographic location are important influences on voting behavior.
- The visual approach offers insights for improving ballot design and election fairness.
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