“and all you knew of the two major candidates was that one was from the South, married to the same woman all his life, considered himself “born again,” and was a regular church going member of the Baptist church whose sister did evangelical work, while the other was a divorced, non-church going former actor who lived in California.”
The problem with your test is that if a voter knows all that, then they are going to know a lot more than that alone.
Unfortunately, I believe there are many who will vote based on one defining feature they identify with, without checking out the overall governing philosophy of the candidate.
I spent some time in both Georgia and Alabama (my first wife was born and raised in Georgia) during the 60's. I can attest to the fact that thinking Conservatives knew that Carter was a nutter and a phony. And being from California I knew Reagan was the real deal.
I voted for Reagan and was perplexed why Conservative Christians fell for the "I'm a Born Again" line from the "Peanut Man".