Long lines at the polls are part of a raft of barriers to voting, as documented by a recent Pew study (and broken down by The Times’s Adam Liptak on Wednesday). And one of the chief culprits, according to an article by Jeremy W. Peters on Tuesday: long ballots.
How long are they In Cook County, Ill., which includes Chicago, voters had to weigh in on about 93 candidate races and four ballot questions in 2010. The Cook County ballot was the longest one in the nation that year, according to Paul S. Herrnson, director of the Center for American Politics and Citizenship at the University of Maryland, College Park, who has conducted research on state and local election ballots.
“There’s two sides to democracy,†Mr. Herrnson said. He said that long ballots (and the long lines thy frequently cause) are the result of increased opportunity for participatory democracy: more elected offices and more ballot initiatives give the people greater say in government.
An analysis of ballot data by Mr. Herrnson suggests that states with more traditional political structures, especially in the South and Northeast, tend to have more political appointees and fewer ballot questions â€" thus shorter ballots.
“West Coast and mountain states, they tend to have more opportunities for participation,†Mr. Herrnson said. “They also tend to be more likely to have early voting.â€
What a relief for residents of Marion County, Ore., then, that the state votes exclusively by mail. Marion County voters had about 41 ballot questions in 2010. California has managed to control its wait times by opening more precincts.
Here is a sampling from Mr. Herrnson’s database of 2010 ballot figures. (Some are approximate since different cities within a county might have more candidates and questions.)
Average state ballot: 17 elective offices, 5 ballot questions
Cuyahoga County, Ohio: 35 offices, 7 ballot questions
Harris County, Tex: 57 offices, no ballot questions
Hillsborough County, Fla.: 16 offices, 9 ballot questions
Lynchburg, Va. (an independent city): 3 offices, no ballot questions*
Marin County, Calif.: 7 offices, 13 ballot questions
*Virginia has off-year elections for state offices.
