On March 25, West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin signed SB 249, which eliminates the straight-ticket device. West Virginia is the eleventh state to have repealed the device in the last fifty years. The others have been Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, South Dakota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Rhode Island.
The ten states that still have it are Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah.
Which gang has the more patience to vote for lower offices —
Leftwing Donkeys or Rightwing Elephants ???
How many minor parties are DOOMED for ballot access in the next election by failing to get enough votes for a candidate due to NOT having the straight ticket box ???
i.e. such third parties give up and do NOT suffer trying to get on the ballots in future elections.
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P.R. and nonpartisan App.V.
I am pleased that the Governor signed this bill that allows “straight ticket” voting.
Straight ticket voting, encourages the unenlightened of the electorate to be led to the poll and encouraged to vote for a particular ticket. Especially if the voters are illiterate, the photo of a party emblem is easier for the unenlightened voter to remember how he or she is supposed to vote.
Voting is a serious right. Candidates should be studied, and their positions on the major issues should be known. Then when the enlightened voter steps into the voting booth, he or she can feel they have made an intelligent choice in voting for the leaders of the locality, state, and nation.
The odd thing about this bill is that, although eliminating the straight ticket action, it still retains the listing of parties and their symbols at the top of the ballots. From that point on, candidate party affiliations are identified in every race by a 3-letter abbreviation after their names: REP, DEM, LIB, MTN (Mountain Party = Green affiliate), CST (Constitution), IND (even though “independent” isn’t a party), etc.
Obviously voters can still just go down the ballot looking for their preferred three letters and accomplish the same thing as straight-ticket voting, so the next thing to do is to pass legislation to eliminate those abbreviations. It is interesting that the justification for this bill was to do just that – make the voters LOOK AT all the races and all the candidates.
IMO, there is nothing wrong with a party promoting it’s ticket as long as they are doing it at their own expense. I think it is wrong to use taxpayer dollars to indicate any party affiliations anywhere in the election process. Have the parties go back to printing their candidate nominee’s names on a pocket-sized “ticket” and handing them out in person to prospective voters like they did back in the day.
What percentage of New Age Voters are functional ILLITERATES ???
barely able to read STOP signs on street corners ???
See the many logos and pictures of candidates on ballots in foreign nations having large numbers of such illiterate folks — esp. India — all sorts of plant, animal, artistic, math, etc. logos/symbols on ballots.
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Thus the old Donkey and Elephant logos for illiterate Donkey and Elephant voters
— esp. Donkey voters — the Donkey VOTE.