In an ideal world, every voter would be fully informed about each and every candidate on the ballot. In the world we live in though, many voters have simply never heard of some of the candidates on the ballot. Just because someone is voting in a Presidential election, it does not mean that they necessarily know who their county legislator or judge may be. A crude mechanism which many voters use though is to vote for the incumbent when they are happy with the way things are, and "throw the bums out" when they aren't. Therefore, in addition to listing the party that supports each candidate, there should be a mark on the ballot to indicate which if any of the candidates is the incumbent.

It would perhaps be even better if the ballot would tell you for how many years the incumbent was in office, and if a candidate is in the majority or in the minority on the particular body in which he serves. I can see that being a bit much to fit on the ballot though. A simple mark indicating the incumbent can provide useful information for those who care, and can be easily ignored by those who already know or who make up their minds based on other criteria.

What do you think of this idea or comment?
(You can change your vote at any time)

I agree

No opinion

I disagree