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Introduction
Normative democratic theory requires voters to be informed when choosing between
candidates but this expectation runs counter to the empirical research that shows that
voters tend to be ill informed about candidate and party positions on issues. Voters are
unlikely to seek out or sift through all available information to make a decision especially
if that decision is not likely to determine the outcome of a race (Downs 1957). Voters
will instead rely on “low information rationality: (Popkin 1991). Previous research has
shown that voters can compensate for a lack on information by using cognitive shortcuts
to make voting decisions. Cognitive heuristics are commonly used as a bridge between
the realities of a grossly uninformed electorate and the demands of normative democratic
theory: citizens can make reasonable decisions without being completely informed by
relying on cues provided by the party affiliation of the candidate, elite endorsements,
candidate viability, incumbency status and the appearance of the candidate (for a contrary
view and evidence, see Bartels 1996, Lau and Redlawsk 2001). These types of shortcuts
or heuristics are particularly prominent in low-information elections (McDermott 1997)
and when the situation facing voters is complex (Lau and Redlawsk 2001).
A second body of research demonstrates that these shortcuts can sometimes bias electoral
outcomes and voter choice. For example, incumbency (Krebs 1998), gender (Smith and
Fox 2001), candidate race (Terkildsen 1993, Sigelman et al. 1996) and physical
attractiveness can play a role in electoral outcomes (Sigelman, Sigelman and Fowler
1987). Besides characteristics associated directly with the candidate, in the absence of
other information, ballot position may also influence a candidate’s share of the vote
(Rallings, et al. 1998, Miller and Krosnick 1998, Steen and Koppel nd). However, there is
some debate over the potential ballot position has to bias electoral outcomes (see Miller
and Krosnick 1998 and Darcy and McAllister 1990).
In this paper, we focus on the relative importance of candidate appearance and ballot
position as informational cues for voters in low information elections. Most studies on
candidate appearance cues and stereotypes rely on experimental studies and not data
collected from real candidates or elections. We investigate questions about candidate and
Convention