Rank list, internal leadership and personal votes in preferential voting systems

The intra-party electoral competition still resembles the hidden face of the moon. It varies among the different sub-types of preferential voting system. This article focuses on the relation between ballot position and candidate’s personal votes (Renwick and Pilet, 2015; Passarelli, 2020). According to the analysis provided, the ballot position has a significant impact on how preferential votes are distributed among candidates. The rank order’s strong effect remains important (Carey and Shugart, 1995) even after checking for contextual variables and individual characteristics. This research represents a novel approach to predicting how, when, and why a candidate is more likely to be (re-)elected in PLPR systems. Rather than depending exclusively on their political personal capital, candidates must fight for a higher place on the ballot rank. The hypothesis tested can be extended to other PLPR subtypes, considering also the variations in voters’ power.