Does ballot position matter?

Or lawn signs? Or endorsements?

I think this is an interesting question. Let's say you are a voter who has researched all the candidates, you know what each candidate stands for, and before you go into the voting booth (or vote by mail or early vote), you know who you are voting for. Then, I think the above factors won't influence you.

However, let's say you are a voter who is voting for "top of the ballot" election races, and then you realize "oh! there's something about a school board" all the way at the bottom. And you have no idea who these people are?! [An aside: that was me when I first moved to Hillsborough 20 years ago. Back then, the school board election was in April and voters also had to approve the school budget.] This is where I think name recognition matters because of the familiarity heuristic, derived from the availability heuristic, i.e.  you are influenced by what you easily remember. [Another aside: I first learned about this psychology research in Michael Lewis' book The Undoing Project.]

But these factors really shouldn't matter, right? This is a volunteer position, and I am running a $0 campaign. What do lawn signs or mailers tell you about me except my name? The purpose of my blog/Facebook page is so I can share with the community why the school board is so important, i.e. more than just my name. I am also asking Hillsborough and Millstone residents who support my re-election to please share your reasons with your friends and neighbors. Over the last 5.5 years, I have done my homework to become a well educated school board member, so that I can ask the right questions to ensure the Hillsborough school district is well run.

Finally, later today at 3PM, the County Clerk will conduct a drawing for ballot position in the County Clerk’s office. This drawing is open to the public and will also be live-streamed on Somerset County’s Facebook page. The results of the drawing will be posted on the Clerk’s website immediately following the drawing.

But I have to be realistic, and I would say the person in the first ballot position has the greatest advantage, and an advantage also extends to the second and third ballot positions. So, I'll be watching the results!