Straight-ticket Voting Is a Convenience for Voters, and Texas Lawmakers Should Leave It Alone

Voters in Texas elect just about all their leader, except for dog catcher. If you wait long enough, even that important position could appear on Dallas County ballots.In 2014, voters were asked to settle more than 100 ballot questions, including the partisan selections of lawmakers, judges, prosecutors and even glorified bus service managers.Yet, Texas voting doesn't have to take all day.Voters can avoid manually choosing in every race by voting just once, but solely along party lines. It's called straight-ticket or straight party voting, and it's popular with voters, as well as politicians who tailor campaigns that appeal to party loyalty.The process has its critics, and now House Speaker Joe Straus wants the Legislature to end it.The San Antonio Republican wants a voter to go down the ballot one-by-one and make selections. If a person wants to vote for candidates in one party only, it can be done by going up and down the ballot, instead of one punch of the ballot.Opponents of straight-ticket voting says it blindly gives votes to candidates that voters know nothing about, or have no intention of supporting. The more influential the party is in an area, the greater chance its entire slate of candidates will win.  Continue reading...