Texas State Senator Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio) has introduced SB134, to abolish the straight-ticket device.
Comments
Texas Bill to Abolish Straight-Ticket Device — 5 Comments
That is so sweet. I can’t stand hearing all the baaing sheep (aka voters) going to the polls on election day and just voting straight party ticket. And a significant # of those people not even knowing the platforms of those parties.
The only way I think straight party ticket voting should be allowed is if a person is a card carrying dues paying dyed-in-the-wool member of that party.
I’m such an extreme fascist that I think the Republicans should just take over the government and the rest of us can go on with our lives.
That state senator must be feeling pretty secure with his state senate seat to even propose legislation like this. This probably made a lot of people in his state party quite unhappy. I wonder if he’ll have any trouble raising funds during his next campaign cycle?
I do hope it passes though, it would be a big step forward.
Missouri passed the same legislation within the last few years. My understanding is that there was very little discussion of the matter. The leadership simply decided that it was politically advantageous.
The main argument for this change in Texas is that special elections are not covered by the straight party device and so there is a lot of confusion when special elections occur on the same ballot as general elections. (There were a lot of special elections in the ’06 general election due to court ordered redistricting.)
Senator Wentworth is well known for proposing election reform measures that everyone admits are “good ideas” but somehow never seem to get anywhere. Perhaps this one will be treated differently.
Just to keep the record straight, Eric Dondero at #4 states that I’m a friend of Ron Paul’s and have attended numberous Ron Paul functions over the years. Not true. I’ve only MET Ron Paul and could not consider him (or he me, I’d bet) a “friend” since we don’t really even know each other. And I’ve never once attended a Ron Paul function in my life.
That is so sweet. I can’t stand hearing all the baaing sheep (aka voters) going to the polls on election day and just voting straight party ticket. And a significant # of those people not even knowing the platforms of those parties.
The only way I think straight party ticket voting should be allowed is if a person is a card carrying dues paying dyed-in-the-wool member of that party.
I’m such an extreme fascist that I think the Republicans should just take over the government and the rest of us can go on with our lives.
That state senator must be feeling pretty secure with his state senate seat to even propose legislation like this. This probably made a lot of people in his state party quite unhappy. I wonder if he’ll have any trouble raising funds during his next campaign cycle?
I do hope it passes though, it would be a big step forward.
Missouri passed the same legislation within the last few years. My understanding is that there was very little discussion of the matter. The leadership simply decided that it was politically advantageous.
The main argument for this change in Texas is that special elections are not covered by the straight party device and so there is a lot of confusion when special elections occur on the same ballot as general elections. (There were a lot of special elections in the ’06 general election due to court ordered redistricting.)
Senator Wentworth is well known for proposing election reform measures that everyone admits are “good ideas” but somehow never seem to get anywhere. Perhaps this one will be treated differently.
Just to keep the record straight, Eric Dondero at #4 states that I’m a friend of Ron Paul’s and have attended numberous Ron Paul functions over the years. Not true. I’ve only MET Ron Paul and could not consider him (or he me, I’d bet) a “friend” since we don’t really even know each other. And I’ve never once attended a Ron Paul function in my life.