It isn’t a high-profile part of election season, but it sure matters when you look at your ballot. It is the lot draw.

Secretary Reed recently certified the list of 2010 Primary candidates who filed with the Office of Secretary of State. In doing so, he gave the final blessing on the candidate lot draw that determines where candidates’ names will appear on the ballot.

This shows the order of candidates’ names for the U.S. Senate race, plus congressional, legislative and judicial races. Of the 15 people who filed for the U.S. Senate contest, incumbent Patty Murray is listed 10th, Dino Rossi is 13th, and Tea Party favorite Clint Didier is the eighth candidate listed.

For those wondering how the lot draw works, here is the story. 

The lot draw replaced the old alphabetical ordering used when we still had ballot rotation. (Back then, if your last name started with “A,” you were almost assured of seeing your name appear first. Conversely, if your name started with “Z,” it was a pretty safe bet that your name would appear last.) With the lot draw, the placement of candidate names within a race is controlled entirely by chance.

The requirement to order candidates by drawing lots is set in state statute (RCW 29A.36.131). The method of draw used is entirely up to the filing officer at the state and county level.  Some counties draw names from a hat, some counties draw the entire alphabet and arrange the last names according to the draw. The State draws numbers to determine the placement of the original order.  We keep a document that reports the results of the draw both in reference to the placement of the candidate and the relationship of the draw to the candidates’ original order.

Once the draw is completed, the filing officer will rearrange the list of candidates filed with that officer to reflect the final order.  In other words, if a candidate filed with the Secretary of State, then we determine the order. Otherwise the County Auditor or County Elections Supervisor will determine the order of candidates in a race. Although not specifically addressed, this order is normally applied to the order of candidates in a special 3 day filing.