Straight Party Voting: Effects of Ballot Structure on Straight Ticket Voting

• In Event: How Ballot Structure Contributes to Voter Errors and Omissions

Abstract

The straight party ticket is an electoral device that allows the voter to mark one item and cast ballots for all candidates of one party in all partisan contests in that election. Currently, fourteen states hold elections with straight party voting (SPV). Straight ticket voting is an occurrence when a voter casts ballots for a single party in all partisan contests. However, straight ticket voting in states without a straight party ticket requires a voter to mark each partisan candidate individually. Contrary to trends toward greater party polarization, election reformers tend to reject SPV. The number of states with SPV elections had declined in recent decades; six states abolished SPV since 1994. This research utilized aggregate election returns in one state (Missouri) to compare straight ticket voting (or at least aggregate partisan consistency) before and after the elimination of straight party voting. In addition, a cross-state analysis compares straight ticket voting in states with and without SPV. Tentative results suggest that eliminating the SPV option marginally decreases straight ticket voting but strongly leads to larger levels of ballot roll-off or residual votes.

Authors

• James W. Endersby, University of Missouri

• Ethan Shumate