Article 92 provides that the names of candidates “are placed on the ballot according to the alphabetical order of their name.” Empirical studies have shown that some voters simply vote for the first name on the ballot without considering the rest of the names on the ballot. Thus, a candidate whose name begins with a letter found at the beginning of the alphabet has an advantage over a candidate whose name begins with a letter found at the end of the alphabet. The OSCE/ODIHR and Venice Commission recommend that Article 92 be amended to provide that the order of candidates on the ballot be chosen by lot instead of by alphabetical order. Article 92 (4) provides that “the voter marks in the special place”. The word “in” has lead in other countries to fraud when a ballot is declared invalid if the voter’s mark was not precisely inside the “special place” or is beyond the limit of the “special place”. The OSCE/ODIHR and Venice Commission recommend that this wording be changed to allow for more freedom in determining the validity of the ballot and thus the political choice of the voter.
