Straight Party Tickets: Good or Bad?

By Jim on March 12th, 2007

One thing I never encountered until coming to NH was the idea of straight ticket balloting. STB lets a voter vote for the candidates of one party by checking off one checkbox. Pretty convenient but I guess it’s something that the Dems have hated for a long time and now some pubbies want to get rid of too.

Personally, I prefer to check off each individual candidate as there might be exceptions for a particular party that I would not want to vote for. Sometimes liberty-oriented candidates can be found in both parties so I would want to support them regardless of party affiliation over their anti-liberty opponents (yes I’m a Republican but I’d vote against any Republican who supported gun grabbing and that sort of stuff).

The Union Leader’s editorial about it does point out some of the good things about STB though.

The straight ticket, however, is a lovely option for the elderly, the semi-literate, and those who might have trouble holding or manipulating a writing instrument. It does them a disservice to remove the convenience that one-check voting offers.

And despite the long-held perception, straight-ticket voting does not give Republicans an advantage. Once upon a time it might have, but those days are gone. Last fall Democrats rode straight tickets to majority status in the House and Senate and control of both U.S. House seats.

What say you? Are you in favor of straight ticket balloting?