Digital SAT Reading and Writing Practice Question #724

A sociological study investigated voter behavior in a recent municipal mayoral election. Candidate X ran entirely on a platform of aggressive municipal tax cuts, while Candidate Y consistently championed comprehensive infrastructure revitalization. Pre-election polling consistently showed that over 70% of the electorate firmly believed infrastructure was the single most urgent issue facing the city. Despite this, Candidate X won the election by a shockingly wide margin. Upon analyzing the actual voting ballots, researchers found that directly preceding the mayoral choices on the page was Proposition 104, a deeply unpopular, heavily publicized measure to construct a network of privately owned, highly expensive toll roads. The researchers concluded that the ballot's specific physical layout triggered a sudden, psychological reprioritization among voters inside the voting booth. Which of the following statements is most strongly supported by the researchers' conclusion?