Question of the Month
December
2002
Which states in the
Midwest allow for straight party voting?
Sixteen states give voters the
option of casting a single vote for an entire slate of candidates,
although only four of them — Michigan, Indiana,
Wisconsin and Iowa — are in the Midwest.
Since the 1960s and 1970s, many states have abolished the practice; at
one time, well over half of U.S. states had a straight ticket voting
option.
Opponents of straight ticket voting
argue that it discourages voters from examining all the choices on a
ballot, promotes ideological rather than candidate-centered voting,
and results in fewer votes for nonpartisan offices typically listed at
the end of a ballot. Members of the minority party also suspect that
party votes lock in an electoral advantage for their opponents,
especially in down-the-ballot races that voters might otherwise
overlook. But many supporters claim that the straight ticket option
expedites the voting process, removing an impediment that suppresses
turnout. In the Midwest, the issue has received considerable attention
in Michigan, where voters rejected a statewide initiative this
November that would have abolished straight party voting by a 60 to 40
percent margin. The Citizens Research Council, a Michigan public
policy research foundation, notes that straight ticket voting is still
very popular in counties and cities where one party tends to dominate
electorally.
Illinois was the most
recent Midwestern state to eliminate straight ticket voting — in
1997 — but some Democrats are vowing to reinstate the practice once
they assume control of the legislature and governorship in January.
Iowa and Wisconsin legislators also have introduced bills to eliminate
the practice, but divided government (legislative chambers and/or the
governor from opposing parties) has prevented action thus far.
For
more information on this or any other public policy issue, please call
630-925-1922 or complete the online
form for research services.
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