The phenomenon where a voter stops voting for offices and initiatives at the bottom of a long ballot is called?

• A. ballot fatigue
• B. time-zone fall out
• C. apathy
• D. nonvoting voters

Answer: (A)

Ballot fatigue is the tendency for voters to cast ballots for the offices at the top of a long ballot and skip the bottom sections, including down-ballot offices and initiatives. This happens because a longer ballot raises cognitive load, time pressure, and decision fatigue, so many voters stop making selections as they move down. It reflects a pattern where people can’t or won’t complete every item, not necessarily a dislike of the lower-contest issues. The other options don’t fit this specific behavior: time-zone fall out isn’t a recognized voting phenomenon; apathy describes a broader lack of interest rather than the literal skipping of lower-ballot items; nonvoting voters refers to those who don’t vote at all, not those who skip later parts of the ballot.