def padded_list(candidate, reference_list):
    """
    Method creates a `list` where the first element is `candidate` and the rest
    `len(reference_list) - 1` elements are empty strings (''s).

    This is operation is useful when trying to construct tables where empty
    strings can represent empty cells.

    :param candidate: a list of strings
    :param reference_list: another list such that `candidate` should match it in
                           terms of number of elements
    :return: [text] + [''] * (len(reference_list) - 1)]
    """
    if not reference_list:
        raise AttributeError('The reference_list argument must be non-empty.'.format(reference_list))
    pad_length = len(reference_list) - len(candidate)
    return candidate + [''] * pad_length