If your surname starts with a letter in the last half of the alphabet, you were in luck on Election Day.
Precincts often split voter lines by last names. Those whose names begin with A to M stand in one line and those in the last half of the alphabet in another.
But the N to Z voters had an edge when it comes to getting out the door faster and back to work, because only 36 percent of registered voters nationally fall into that part of the alphabet, according to the Wall Street Journal, which analyzed data from L2, a nonpartisan voter file vendor.
The data covered 172.2 million U.S. voters in 50 states and the District of Columbia. The lopsided alphabet trend showed up in almost every county in the United States.
In the first half of the alphabet, M was the most common, and I the least common first initial of a surname. In the last half, S was the most common and Q, U, X, Y and Z were the least.
The waits were so long in the 2012 election, up to six hours in some cases, that then-President Barack Obama appointed a commission to find ways to speed voting.
But the newspaper points out that many other factors figure in, such as whether voters arrive in groups or stream more evenly into polling places.
So while poll workers and academics try to figure out the optimal queue theory for voting, the answer may lie in electronic poll books, the newspaper said. Some 80 percent of jurisdictions that serve 60 percent of the voters still use paper books, but as those are converted to networked electronic books, that lucky Z that gets you through faster now likely will no longer matter.
Red Sox ticket prices rise
After notching another World Series championship, the Boston Red Sox raised ticket prices for the coming season, making those buying the much-desired holiday gift dig deeper into their pockets.
Ticket prices for the 2019 season will go up 2.5 percent on average, the same increase as last season.
The Red Sox also are adding a new pricing tier called Diamond for the six games in highest demand. Expect to pay about 10 percent more for the home opener on April 9 against the Toronto Blue Jays, the July 12-13 games against the Los Angeles Dodgers and three games against the New York Yankees on July 26-27 and Sept. 7.
Prices for the remaining 73 home games will rise by an average of 1.6 percent.
The Red Sox said they will continue to offer reduced pricing for students, clergy, veterans and active duty members of the military. Tickets for high school and college students will be available for $9.
Stonewall Kitchen buys olive oil, pasta company
Specialty food producer Stonewall Kitchen said on Friday that the company has completed its second acquisition in 2018.
The York-based company bought Spruce Naturals, the parent company for Napa Valley Naturals, a premium brand of certified organic extra virgin olive oils, culinary cooking oils, Italian balsamic vinegars and aged wine vinegars. Spruce also is the parent of Montebello, an artisan brand of organic pastas imported from Italy.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Stonewall also bought Tillen Farms, a maker of pickled vegetables and Bada Bing cherries, early this year.
John Stiker, Stonewall Kitchen’s CEO, said the company in May also licensed the Legal Sea Foods brand for a line of restaurant-quality seafood sauces.
Stonewall, founded in 1991, is known for its jams and jellies, the first products it sold. It started at local farmers markets and branched out to having its own stores and online sales. It has nine company stores in New England, including in Camden and Portland.