NC Board of Elections Warning! Voting Straight Ticket Doesn't Vote for President!

http://www.tonyspencer.com/nc-straight-ticket/

[Diva Betsy Ross]

I got this by email today. This is my first election in North Carolina. I don't know if this is common knowledge or not.. so if it isn't:

NC Board of Elections Warning! Voting Straight Ticket Doesn't Vote for President!

Yes its true. If you select a straight party ticket vote you will not be casting a vote for President. Additionally North Carolina has decided to remove the party affiliation for all judges on the ticket this election which means you cannot view the party of a candidate and you will not be casting a vote for any judges if you vote straight ticket. North Carolina and South Carolina are the only two states in the country that have this strange and confusing law. Here's how to effectively vote straight ticket in NC:

How to Vote Straight Ticket in North Carolina and South Carolina

1. Select your choice for President

Democrat

Republican

Libertarian

John Kerry

George Bush

Michael Badnarik

2. Select your party for straight ticket

3. Select each judge you wish to vote for from the following list:

Republican

Democrat

Independent

State Supreme Court

John M. Tyson

Sarah Parker

_____

State Supreme Court

Paul Martin Newby

Ronnie Ansley

Rachel Lea Hunter

Betsy McCrodden

Jim Wynn

Marvin Schiller

Fred Morrisson, Jr.

Howard E. Manning, Jr.

_____

State Court of Appeals

Bill Parker

Linda McGee

State Court of Appeals

Alice Stubbs

Wanda Bryant

State Court of Appeals

Barbara Jackson

Alan Thornburg

Get the Word Out

Contact NC State Board of Elections The North Carolina State Board of Elections does not display this straight party ticket loophole on their website . Contact them and let them know you want to see this information prominently displayed on the site:

Gary Bartlett (Director) 919-733-7173 - gary.bartlett@ncmail.net Sharon Everett (Elections Liaison) 919-715-1830 - sharon.everett@ncmail.net Rosemary Blizzard (Only person I was able to reach) 919-715-4746 - rosemary.blizzard@ncmail.net Main 919-733-7173

Ask Local Media to Report on the Confusing NC Straight Ticket News and Observer : Lynn Bonner : 919-829-4821 Greensboro News and Record : Becky Layton : 336-373-7037 Charlotte Observer : 704-358-5040 Asheville Citizen Times : Thomas Graser : 828-232-5976

Ask Local Parties to Display the Straight Ticket Issue on Their Websites Democrat : NCDP.org : 919-821-2777 Republican : NCGOP.org : 919-828-6423 Libertarian : LPNC.org : 919-286-0152

More Info

"The two states suffered among the nation's worst rates among voters who did not cast a vote for president four years ago. North Carolina voters cast 3,015,964 ballots, but only 2,914,990 votes were counted for president. South Carolinians cast 1,433,533 ballots, but only 1,382,721 presidential votes were certified."

Read the Full Article

[Servant of the 9]

The warning was printed in large letters on my NC Absentee Ballot.

SO9

[Nataku X]

Good to hear, but still a disgusting move.

No one should be voting straight ticket anyway. That's the easiest way to commit fraud... take someone's straight-ticket Republican ballot, then fill in all the Democrat circles anyway.

Howlin, got a NC ping list?

[Servant of the 9]

No one should be voting straight ticket anyway.

That's funny, I do.

I haven't seen a Dim on my ballot worth voting for in the last 25 years.

So9

[FR_addict]

I didn't get the warning. Thanks for posting this warning!

[snopercod]

ping

[greyseal53]

This is indeed true. When my wife and I voted early yesterday morning in Graham, NC, she was instructed by the poll worker that this was the case. My poll worker was too involved with other things to bother telling me but it was on the first page of the electronic ballot. You can bet I double checked it before I pushed the button to cast my vote!

[1stMarylandRegiment]

As a matter of course I have always voted FOR each candidate and FOR or AGAINST each issue. I have never punched the "straight party" option. I consider completing each punch an affirmative action and I take pleasure in exercising my right to vote for each candidate.

I have always carefully inspected the back of my ballot for hanging chad, wiped it twice, slipped it in the little envelope, and carefully WATCHED the election judge drop it in the (incredibly huge) Ballot Box.

Call me paranoid, but I feel these to be positive actions.

[LegalEagle61]

I voted straight ticket on my absentee ballot as well, is there any way we can check to make sure that our absentees were counted correctly? Would the elction board tell us if we called?

[Rebelbase]

I spent a couple of hours today calling registered GOP voters to let them know about this and the early voting option this year.

[deport]

FYI..........

[Diva Betsy Ross]

What is the early voting option. I have been thru heck and back getting my voters registration for NC. I finally have a card... EXCEPT my name is misspelled. When I called the lady told me she has no idea why my name was misspelled on the card because clearly in the computer system it is spelled correctly. This after two months of not finding me at all. SO- now I have a card with the wrong name on it. I was told I can still go to my voting place with the wrong card in case my new one doesn't come in in enough time.

I would like to get this straightened out before election day if I can.

[Rebelbase]

I just got my 2004 registration card today.

The early voting option I was referring to is here in Guilford County. I don't know if it's state wide.

Mon-Sat. for the next two weeks you can vote between 9:00-6:00 at about a dozen locations around the county.

[KingKongCobra]

If this were a contested state, the dummies would sue. You know they can't read that cover sheet and understand the ballot.

[Arkie2]

Just voted Thursday in WNC and didn't even bother voting for any of the judges because they weren't affiliated. I decided not to vote party line because I didn't want to vote for Taylor for congress and I'm glad I ddin't vote party line! Sheesh. How stupid is this!

[SandRat]

Hey this isn't so bad, conservatives read and rats don't. This works in our favor.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

heeheee.. ! Well I am going to have to take my cheat sheet with me. I was planning on voting straight ticket.. that is if they allow me to vote at all. I have a feeling I won't get my new card with my correct name until it is too late. Wish me luck!

[cynicom]

Confusing???? The instructions that came with my absentee ballot appear to have been written by a third grader.

[Trepz]

It has been standard practice for years.

Its purpose is to allow someone to vote for all members of the same party and still cast a vote for the President in a different party. I view this method of recognizing the fact that many people do perfer a straigth party vote but do not always want the Presidential candidate of their party.

Having already voted, I can tell you that it is not a problem. Simply mark your ballot for President, and then if you want to vote a straigth party ticket, say Republican, you can then do that for all other offices. There are also certain other votes, such af funding for schools etc that must be voted on separately.