On April 27, the Michigan House passed HB 4177, which removes party logos from general election ballots. A “logo” is a cartoon symbol of a party. See the Michigan logos for each party here. The Michigan term for logo is “vignette”. The bill now goes to the Senate. The vote in the House was 63-46.
Michigan is currently in court over whether a straight-ticket device should be on the ballot. The legislature had repealed the straight-ticket device, but then a U.S. District Court Judge had ruled that the state can’t remove the straight-ticket device. The plaintiffs in that case, who support the straight-ticket device, argue that if the straight-ticket device is removed, some confused voters will presume that the way to cast a vote for all nominees of a single party is simply to draw a circle around one party’s logo.
The Republican majority in the legislature, which opposes the straight-ticket device, is thus motivated to pass HB 4177. If the party logos are removed, then one argument against removing the straight-ticket device goes away.
It may seem far-fetched to think that confused voters would think that drawing a circle around a logo is a short method for casting a ballot for all the nominees of one party. But, there is evidence that is happens. When Missouri repealed its straight-ticket device but left party logos on the ballot, thousands of voters did draw a circle around logos. So, Missouri then repealed provision for logos. Thanks to Electionline for the news about HB 4177.
The Rs could also want vignettes off to make voting that much harder for less-literate voters who are more helped by those logos.
If all someone has to go on is a little picture that they vote for, I’m not cry much over their difficulty.
@Brandon L: A straight-ticket vote may be a fully considered vote. It may also be in part a response to someone’s lack of time to go through a full ballot office by office — or their polling place’s lack of sufficient equipment, making everyone take longer to vote — or a few other reasons.
I’m glad that Michigan law still requires ballots to explain that voters can split an otherwise straight ticket. And I hope you don’t find you have cause to cry much for yourself because you’re waiting a long time to vote if this measure adds to others which make it harder for your fellow citizens to get through the process.