Effects of Straight-ticket Voting in Texas
Texas is one of only twelve states that offers voters an opportunity to vote for all candidates with one selection on the ballot—straight-ticket voting (STV). Of the twelve states, six are southern states—Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia; three are Midwestern states—Indiana, Iowa, and Michigan; two are northeastern states—Pennsylvania and Rhode Island; and one is a western state—Utah. The National Conference of State Legislatures notes the declining popularity of straight-ticket voting over the past few decades. During the 1990s, three states—Georgia, Illinois, and South Dakota—eliminated the practice, and six additional states—Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Wisconsin—have abandoned STV since 2000. The most recent was North Carolina in 2014. [1] In Texas, straight-ticking voting has become more popular among voters. As Figure 1 illustrates, straight-ticket voting has increased from 47.60 percent of the gu...