On April 16, New Hampshire Governor John Lynch signed SB 36 into law. It bans the “straight-ticket” device. A “straight-ticket” device is a choice at the top of a ballot, which, if chosen, lets a voter vote for every partisan office in a single motion, without even reading the ballot to see which candidates are running. There is a separate entry for each party on the ballot. For example, if the voter chooses the “Republican Party” choice, then the ballot is automatically marked for every Republican nominee listed on the ballot for all partisan offices.
Straight ticket devices still exist in 15 states. Bills to ban them are also pending in Texas, Oklahoma, and Rhode Island.
I’d like to hear people’s opinions on how a ban of the straight ticket device will affect third party candidates.
Would it be a benefit to them or not?
I would think that such a ban would result in more votes for third party candidates.
As a voter in Pennsylvania, I have used and found convenient the straight ticket and usually vote straight Libertarian. But I can see how banning this ‘convenience’ could quite likely result in more votes for Libertarian and other 3rd party candidates.
Speaking unofficially on behalf of NH Libertarians, we supported this bill, and we’re glad to see it pass.
In NH, the biggest problem was that you could vote a straight ticket and then vote for whomever you wanted, causing confusion about your intention… no longer.
Straight tickets accounted for a huge percentage of the vote, as I saw with my own eyes during recounts. Recounts will now take even longer, one of the few bad side effects.