Who's on first? It matters on a ballot; California will decide Aug. 13
Ever wonder how the order of candidates for a particular race on your ballot is selected and why it matters? For the Nov. 3, 2026 election, the order will be determined 11 am Aug. 13.
The day after the extended filing date passes, the California Secretary of State’s office holds a random drawing of letters, creating what is called a randomized alphabet. It’s used in races big and small throughout the state to determine what order to place candidates’ names in each race. For example, if someone named Rodriguez is running against someone named Chen, and R gets drawn before C, then Rodriguez appears on the ballot before Chen. (If their names start with the same letter or letters, the first letter in their names that is different is used to determine the order.) In lower visibility races, this could be enough to give Rodriguez a win.
It’s not exactly the sorting hat at Hogwarts, but it’s often watched closely by politicians. It’s of such interest that the Secretary of State live streams the process on its
Research suggests that being first on the ballot can give a candidate a slight advantage, perhaps enough to make a difference in a close race. The effect can be strongest in lower visibility, non-partisan races, particularly if there are a large number of candidates. The thinking is that voters have less information about these races and can’t just choose candidates based on political party, so they select the first name they see that seems to be someone who is acceptable to them.
Contra Costa County has its own system for assigning letters to measures. That system is based on alphabetical order and the type of jurisdiction - county, city, schools, special district, etc. West Contra Costa Unified School District’s parcel tax renewal was assigned the letter V.
In an attempt to counteract the bias of the ballot order rather than magnifying it, wherever practical the El Cerrito Wire will use the reverse order of the order chosen for the ballot for the City Council and school board races.
Image is a screen grab from the drawing for the June 2026 election.