Mr Purcell secured the placing in the random bingo-style ballot draw conducted by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) yesterday afternoon in Warrnambool.

Independent Ralph Leutton was placed second on the ballot, Liberal's Daniel Tehan third, Independent Allan Marsh fourth and Labor's Judith McNamara fifth.

Lower down, Family First's Jahzeel Concepcion gained sixth placing, The Greens' Lisa Owen seventh, independent Robert O'Brien eighth and fellow independent Katrina Rainsford ninth.

Mr Purcell, who is taking leave from his position as Moyne Shire mayor to contest Wannon, said where candidates were placed on the ballot hade only a small effect on the eventual outcome of the vote on election night.

He said the growing desire from voters to make Wannon a marginal electorate would have more of an impact than candidate listings.

"I know that voters in Wannon are intelligent enough to vote for the candidates and their policies," Mr Purcell said.

"The position on the ballot paper probably makes more of a difference in other parts of Australia but people are pretty well informed here."

Numbered marbles were placed in a rotating cage by AEC officials yesterday with one of the officials blindfolded for the count as stated under electoral law.

Two selection rounds are conducted, the first to correspond names with numbers and the second round matches names with the place they appear on the ballot.

Dr Rainsford, who secured ninth position on the ballot, agreed with Mr Purcell and said the placement would have little bearing on the election's outcome.

"Where my name is placed on the ballot will not make much difference to the result in three weeks time," she said.

"It's what the candidates stand for and what they want for Wannon."

Electoral research has suggested that donkey votes account for only one to two per cent of the overall vote with Mrs Owen gaining first position on the ballot at the 2007 election but coming third behind Liberal MP David Hawker and Labor opponent Antony Moore.