Federal appeals court OKs law giving Republicans top spots on FL's election ballots

A federal appeals court has overturned a trial judge who struck down Florida’s system of naming members of the governor’s party first on the ballot, citing insufficient evidence that voters and political organizations suffered any injury that the courts can repair.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit lifted an injunction imposed in November by U.S. District Judge Mark Walker blocking the state from continuing to use the system, which is mandated under a state law enacted in 1951, when Democrats controlled state government. Republicans now control the governor’s office and Legislature.

The plaintiffs, including private citizens and Democratic and progressive political organizations, had cited evidence that voters favor the top name on a ballot by as much as five points. They called it the “primacy effect” and said it amounted to an unfair windfall for candidates belonging to the governor’s party.

In Florida, where statewide elections can hang on a razor’s edge, the effect theoretically could prove significant. The 2018 margin between Republican Ron DeSantis and Democrat Andrew Gillum was 0.4 percent.

Read more: https://www.floridaphoenix.com/2020/04/29/federal-appeals-court-oks-law-giving-republicans-top-spots-on-fls-election-ballots/