Posted on 11/03/2006 4:23:04 PM PST by 11th_VA
Franklin County voters may notice another change Tuesday when they come to the polls -- straight-ticket voting is no longer allowed. Straight-ticket voting allowed a voter to cast one vote at the top of the ballot to automatically vote for every candidate in that party. Now, voters will have to choose each candidate individually.
Franklin County Clerk Debbie Door said the elimination of straight-ticket voting shouldn't make a big difference in the time it takes to vote.
"Franklin County voters have proved to me that they are informed enough that the problems in other counties do not happen here," Door said.
Door noted that the new voting machines are much faster to use than the old paper ballots. With the optical scan method, people may sit at a booth or a table to vote, so many people can vote at the same time.
The majority of county residents do not use the straight-ticket option, Door said.
She noted that a small margin of the total votes cast in November of 2004 were straight tickets.
Of the 45,369 votes cast for governor in 2004, only 28 percent voted a straight-ticket.
And she noted that there is a narrow margin between the numbers of people who choose to vote a straight ticket in each party. Of the 12,959 voters who chose to vote straight ticket, 51.18 percent were Republicans and 47.72 were Democrats.
That negates the concern that the change will affect one party more than another, Door said.
Statewide, of the 2,765,067 ballots cast for the November 2004 election, more than a third, at least 1,101,488, were straight tickets.
Missouri is now one of 35 states that doesn't allow straight-ticket ballots. The ban was one of the provisions in a new state election law passed this year.
Vote a person into office....not a "party".
Good point!
Having to spell, search for a candidate whose name they can't remember will cause more and more of them to give up standing in line behind other idiot dims and go home!!!!!
I never vote a straight party ticket. Brings me great joy to mark my ballot for each Republican individually.
"This disenfranchises dumb-ass voters like myself, who find marking in for each individual Democrat candidate, very difficult and mentally taxing. This gives too much of an advantage to Republicans, who could afferd a good edumacation."
Ref. Post #1. YEP!!!
This will result in long lines and the less motivated 'rat voters who have already pocketed their "walking around $$$" will walk away from the polling place and head to the closest liquor store.
I vote a straight Rep ticket and here's why.
They are far more likely to agree with me, or at least be in the same universe as me, than the, ummm, "other" party. And here in TX, we can vote a straight ticket and then pick individuals of the other party when we review our ballot.
This almost worked for me this year in a judge's race, where I was familiar with one of the judges in particular but didn't know his party. He turned out to be on the Republican ticket...
Yes I try to know every candidate, but please, I have to sleep sometime. And even in this so-called "information age," the information on some of the candidates, especially down ticket, is pretty sparse.
The military overwhelmingly votes Republican, and we all know that if they would have had a good education they wouldn't be stuck in Iraq.
Definitely a plus for the GOP in down ballot races.
The Democrats have a lot of straight party ticket punchers,
don't know what the numbers are though.
"They are far more likely to agree with me, or at least be in the same universe as me, than the, ummm, "other" party. And here in TX, we can vote a straight ticket and then pick individuals of the other party when we review our ballot."
Yes, I do that and I like that. I review and vote *twice* in effect, first straightparty to get the GOP names selected, then go race by race to make sure it's right.
Just a dumb question?
Will there be R's and D's beside the names?
This is my first time voting in MO.
I am definitely voting against Odenwald in St. Louis County.
He is the guy that has spearheaded the drive to take away business owner's rights by banning smoking in private establishments.
His opponent Dooley, a Democrat, has tried to make a common sense approach possible...signs to tell you if a place is smoking or non.
I never thought conservatives would be for taking away peoples rights!
Yes. You'll be fine. Don't worry.
It's amazing. GA lost it's straight ticket just as the republicians started winning.
I saw it as the Dems wanted to stop people from voting straight ticket so they wouldn't lose quite so much.
I've never voted for a Democrat in my life but I will vote "no" to retain some pro abortion Republican judges.
28 percent doesn't seem like a small margin to me.
"She noted that a small margin of the total votes cast in November of 2004 were straight tickets.
Of the 45,369 votes cast for governor in 2004, only 28 percent voted a straight-ticket."
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