Bill Galvin, the secretary of the commonwealth, selects names of presidential candidates for the March 1 primary Tuesday. (State House News Service photo by Antonio Caban)
BOSTON – Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Democrat, and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, a Republican, will top the major party March 1 presidential primary ballots after Secretary of State Bill Galvin pulled their names first in a random drawing to determine the order in which candidates will appear.
Galvin selected the names by pulling them from a gold barrel Tuesday as students from Belchertown High School looked on. Galvin urged eligible students to register and vote, reminding them that every vote counts.
Ballot order can be important as voters absent other influences, and may even tip the balance in a tight race, according to research cited by a WBUR-FM report, citing Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia and Jon Krosnick of Stanford University.
Here’s the order of each ballot:
Democrats
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Republicans
Former Virginia Sen. Jim Gilmore
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham
Donald Trump
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz
Former New York Gov. George Pataki
Ben Carson
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul
Carly Fiorina
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush
Ohio Gov. John Kasich
Green-Rainbow Party
Sedinam Kinamo Christin Moyowasifza Curry
Jill Stein
William P. Kreml
Kent Mesplay
Darryl Cherney
Bill Galvin, the secretary of the commonwealth, selects names of presidential candidates for the March 1 primary Tuesday. (State House News Service photo by Antonio Caban) 
