On May 31, ten Michigan Representatives introduced HB 5709. It would alter the order of offices on general election ballots. First would come all ballot measures, followed by partisan offices. Township offices would appear first, then state offices, then Congress, then President. Michigan will not be using a straight-ticket device in 2016, for the first time in a century or more. The bill’s sponsors are afraid that without their bill, many voters will only vote for the most important offices, and skip the lesser offices. Here is the text of the bill.
Interesting idea. Mind you, all ten sponsors are Democrats — which doesn’t help the bill’s chances in the Republican-dominated Legislature.
Also, they might want to consider revising the bill to amend MCL 168.532 as well. That’s the section which says a party only gets into the primary if its principal candidate gets at least 5% of the total vote in the most recent Secretary of State election — and here, “principal candidate” is defined as “the candidate whose name shall appear nearest the top of the party column.” (Unlike MCL 168.685, which governs whether parties stay on the ballot — there, the standard is 1% of the *winning* SOS candidate’s total, and the principal candidate is “the candidate who receives the greatest number of votes of all candidates of that political party for that election.”)
The gerrymander HACKS are in a state of panic — esp. Donkey hacks having Donkey voters too LAZY to vote for lower offices.