Publication
Abstract
Voters' decision in elections is based on three kinds of information. First it is information about opinions, promises and abilities of the candidates, which is acquired by voters before the election.
Second type of information, including the gender, age, academic titles and profession, is listed on the ballot and can be correlated with the opinions and abilities of candidates. The third type of information are "ballot cues", for example the characteristics of a name of a candidate or the order of a slate on a ballot, effecting the visibility of given slate.
The study quantifies the importance of candidate characteristics on ballots and ballot cues for the electoral outcome of the candidates.