Texas legislature votes to ban straight ticket voting

[Terry the Fat Shark]

https://www.texastribune.org/2017/05/17/texas-senate-tentatively-approves-straight-ticket-voting-ban/ Both houses of the Texas legislature have now passed a ban on Straight ticket voting on any race in Texas (we've had straight ticket voting for a while now), heading for the Governor's desk now. Interested to see how this might impact races in Texas.

[Jeppe]

Might help break the Democrat's statewide dry spell if they can get a strong candidate running.

[KingSweden]

I'm sure they're not doing this for any good reasons, though I tend to not care for auto straight ticket voting personally

[GlobeSoc]

This is bizarrely a form of voter suppression that could backfire on Republicans

[Classic Conservative]

I'm sure they're not doing this for any good reasons, though I tend to not care for auto straight ticket voting personally

[Adam Griffin]

They're doing it because they know that a greater share of Latinos than voters as a whole won't bother to vote all the way down the ballot. Look at heavily-Latino precincts in states where straight-ticket voting doesn't exist and compare the number of votes in the first contest to any subsequent ones.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Good. Straight-Ticket encourages laziness and partisanship.

[Skill and Chance]

Good. Straight-Ticket encourages laziness and partisanship.

Seems odd for the ruling party to do this in a safe state, doesn't it?

[BuckeyeNut]

I feel conflicted. On the one hand, this limits voting, but on the other hand, it probably encourages better voter research.

[Green Line]

They're doing it because they know that a greater share of Latinos than voters as a whole won't bother to vote all the way down the ballot. Look at heavily-Latino precincts in states where straight-ticket voting doesn't exist and compare the number of votes in the first contest to any subsequent ones.

Youre giving state legislators way too much credit.  They're not that cunning.

[Indy Texas]

This would probably have the biggest impact for district judge races - Texas ballots are ridiculous about these and there are literally dozens of judgeships you have to vote for. I honestly either leave that section blank or just pick names at random. I don't agree with the practice of electing judges to begin with.

So maybe the Republicans could win some "marginal" lower level judgeships, but I'm not sure what they'd gain from that. These aren't appellate court seats. There's really no "Republican" way to be a judge who rules on mundane civil cases. It's not as if these people are ruling on abortion or guns or something.

[smoltchanov]

https://www.texastribune.org/2017/05/17/texas-senate-tentatively-approves-straight-ticket-voting-ban/ Both houses of the Texas legislature have now passed a ban on Straight ticket voting on any race in Texas (we've had straight ticket voting for a while now), heading for the Governor's desk now. Interested to see how this might impact races in Texas.

Good! i always hated such type of voting. I select candidates one-by-one, not thoughtlessly pulling one lever.

[krazen1211]

Good. Straight-Ticket encourages laziness and partisanship.

Seems odd for the ruling party to do this in a safe state, doesn't it?

Statewide, more Republicans have used straight ticket voting than Democrats. But that is not true in specific counties.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

I feel conflicted. On the one hand, this limits voting, but on the other hand, it probably encourages better voter research.

It doesn't "limit voting". No one is denied the right to vote because of the loss of straight-ticket. Sure the lines move slower, but that's a call to have more precincts, not to encourage partisanship.

[Virginiá]

It doesn't "limit voting". No one is denied the right to vote because of the loss of straight-ticket. Sure the lines move slower, but that's a call to have more precincts, not to encourage partisanship.

The line moving slower, particularly in precincts where resources are already needlessly scarce, can dissuade others from voting. Further, what about people who just don't want to go through a huge ballot and vote on everything individually? That does happen. In fact, correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't Texas typically have a long ballot?

Under existing conditions, I think it would be false to say this doesn't limit voter access. Not everyone has the time or patience to wait, and it's not ok just because Republicans want to squeeze a few more votes for themselves.

[NeverAgain]

This seems hinging on unconstitutionalism. Straight ticket voting is stupid, but I find it ironic that it's Republicans who openly pass a bill basically codifying the "thought police". Should people just vote for a token Democrat or Republican?

I hope that Abbott does the sane thing and vetoes this monstrosity.

[Pessimistic Antineutrino]

This seems hinging on unconstitutionalism. Straight ticket voting is stupid, but I find it ironic that it's Republicans who openly pass a bill basically codifying the "thought police". Should people just vote for a token Democrat or Republican?

I hope that Abbott does the sane thing and vetoes this monstrosity.

I think this refers to a ballot option that allows you to vote "All Rep" or "All Dem" rather than forcing you to vote for someone of a different party.

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

I feel conflicted. On the one hand, this limits voting, but on the other hand, it probably encourages better voter research.

No it does not. All it will do is make people check dozens of individuals boxes instead of a straight ticket box. All you gotta do is start from the top of the ballot, and work your way down, and selected every name with a (D) next to it.

Also ACLU, NAACP, or someone else will probably take this to court and get it smashed just like Michigan.

[Maxwell]

Do Texas Republicans already see the writing on the wall?

[Bismarck]

I think this is targeting democrats who are too lazy to vote for lower level races even if it just means scrolling though some boxes.