When voters in Fargo go to the polls in June’s City Election they are going to see a full slate of candidates seeking office. And when they look at the ballot they will see the names under the office they are seeking. Those names will not be listed alphabetically, but instead will ordered by luck of the draw.
Prairie Public Reporter Todd McDonald has details...
“We have for the mayor, city commission, and park board this year. So once we draw, I will, I put all of this information into the county, or for the county and send it over to the county and make it official what will be on the official ballot.”
Angie Bear is Fargo City Clerk and Deputy Auditor. She's the one who led the drawing for position on the ballot. She conducted the drawing at noon on Tuesday in the city commission chambers.
She says there is no real definition behind the process. Sometimes the drawing is held in person, which was the case for this year's ballot.
“A lot of times we do the ballot drawing in our auditor's office right after the cutoff, but this year it was advertised that we would be drawing for the ballot in the commission chambers.”
This will be the first election Bear has overseen as clerk and deputy auditor. When it comes to the order of placement on a ballot, she goes a shrug and is uncertain if there would be any strategic advantage to being higher or lower in the listing.
Despite the number of candidates stepping forward, Park Board candidate Tyler Sand was the only one to make an in-person visit to watch the drawing.
“Well, I've looked at the previous results of Fargo City elections and seen that it can make a difference, but I think that the people of Fargo are pretty well educated and try to vote based on the merits of the candidates and not necessarily the ballot order.”
And much like Angie Bear, Sand has mixed thoughts about ballot placement being an advantage or disadvantage.
“It could potentially be a disadvantage. I think a big part of it is name recognition, and I think sometimes people might decide to pick the first candidates on the list.”
(Sound of Bear opening names for the Park Board ballot)
“Again, this is for Fargo Park Board, and the first position is for Zandra Bina, and second is Tyler Sand.”
With the drawing complete, we caught up with Sand. As far as his reaction to being listed in the second spot on the ballot?
“Well, I think that's going to be a good place to be on the ballot. Again, I hope that the City of Fargo residents make an informed decision based on the issues and not necessarily just the order on the ballot.
All right, so the strategy from here?
I want to get out there, connect with people, hear what's working for them in the park district, hear what's not working for them, and meet with people in the City of Fargo to be more engaged and to get my name out there and hopefully ultimately win the election.”
Sand is one of seven candidates looking at three open spots on the Fargo Park Board. There are also eight candidates vying for two spots on the City Commission and five candidates running for the office of mayor. Elections will be held June 9th.
