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AP18:040

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 15, 2018
CONTACT:
Sam Mahood
(916) 653-6575

Secretary of State Padilla Announces Results of Randomized Alphabet Drawing for June 5 Statewide Direct Primary Election Ballots

SACRAMENTO – Secretary of State Alex Padilla’s staff today held a randomized alphabet drawing to determine the order that candidates’ names will appear on the June 5, 2018, Statewide Direct Primary Election ballots.

The results of today’s drawing are as follows:

  1. P
  2. J
  3. B
  4. L
  5. K
  6. V
  7. Q
  1. G
  2. A
  3. W
  4. S
  5. I
  6. Z
  7. C
  1. R
  2. F
  3. Y
  4. E
  5. T
  6. H
  7. O
  1. U
  2. D
  3. M
  4. X
  5. N

This alphabet applies throughout the candidate's name, last name first, followed, if necessary, by first name, then middle name. If more than one candidate's last name begins with the same letter, the alphabet applies to the second letter and, if needed, the third, etc., until different letters appear in the same position. For example, if two candidates with the last names Campbell and Carlson are running for the same office, their order on the ballot will depend on the order in which the letters "M" and "R" were drawn in the randomized alphabet drawing.

Today’s randomized alphabet drawing was held in the Elections Division of the Secretary of State’s office in compliance with Elections Code section 13112. Staff pulled the letters in a lottery-style drawing, with witnesses from the public present.

Contests Voted on Statewide

Names of candidates for offices voted on statewide—U.S. Senate, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Controller, Treasurer, Attorney General, Insurance Commissioner, and Superintendent of Public Instruction—rotate by Assembly district, starting with Assembly District 1 where the names appear as first determined by the randomized alphabet. In Assembly District 2, the candidate who appeared first in Assembly District 1 drops to the bottom and the other candidates move up one position and so on throughout the 80 districts. This gives each candidate more than one opportunity to appear at the "top of the ticket" in his/her race.

U.S. Congressional Office

Congressional candidates follow the randomized alphabet and rotate within their districts with the lowest numbered Assembly district leading the rotation.

State Legislative Office

State Senate and Assembly candidates follow the randomized alphabet but do not rotate; however, if a legislative district crosses county lines, the elections officials of each county shall conduct a random drawing to determine candidate order for these offices in their county.

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