When voters do not take the time to study little-known candidates, selections are based on arbitrary methods. Because few people take the time to attend a debate or read candidates' views in newspapers, many employ strange methods to pick candidates. Some methods are simple. For example, some choose the candidates they truly want and then select the rest of their picks by making patterns on the Scantron sheet. Other people's selections are based solely on the name of the candidate.
Many voters construct an entire personality form a name.
A candidate named Mary Jane would evoke thoughts of a nice Girl Scout selling you Tagalongs while a name like Brutus or Moe makes you think of some schoolyard bully. Of course, some names are just inherently bound to get votes. A candidate in California named Mark Schwing was inexplicably garnering more votes than most people expected. Other methods of selection have at least some basis that can be controlled by the candidate, although they probably have little to do with the candidate's credentials. Another method is to go by the most humorous flyers.