Straight ticket voting is on the rise in Tarrant

By Anna M. Tinsley

atinsley@star-telegram.com

Find Election Day ballots long and confusing?

More than 6 in 10 voters in Tarrant County don't let that bog them down.

In the past two presidential elections, more than 60 percent of local voters handled their entire ballot by casting a single vote -- for a straight party ticket.

"Over the last 10 to 15 years, the polarization of the two political parties has made it easy for people to go in and cast a straight party ballot," said Jim Riddlesperger, a political science professor at TCU. "Straight party voting is an easy way out to voters, but it's not necessarily the best way."

This year in Texas, voters may vote straight party for Republican, Democratic, Libertarian or Green Party candidates.

By choosing the straight party option at the top of the ballot -- which is available not only to Texans, but also to voters in a dozen states ranging from Alabama to Pennsylvania -- voters can get in and out of the polling booth quickly, giving a vote to every candidate belonging to their political party.

In Tarrant County, a higher percent of Republicans than Democrats do it.

But as short as a straight party ballot makes a voter's time in the booth, at least one state lawmaker has worked to eliminate it and some caution against using it too much.

"It lets people be lazy in their voting," Riddlesperger said. "I've seen it happen many times, where good people get voted out, especially in judicial elections, where there's relatively little known about the candidates.

"It would change the nature of elections in Texas if you did away with straight party voting," he said. "Whether that would be positive or not is in the eyes of the beholder."

'Popular option'

In Tarrant County, 66.16 percent of general election voters chose the straight party option in 2010, compared with 61.76 percent in 2008, 49.2 percent in 2006, 63.63 percent in 2004, 55.59 percent in 2002 and 56.89 percent in 2000, according to a review of voting records.

"This is something we have to provide," Tarrant County Elections Administrator Steve Raborn said. "It does seem to be trending higher over a 10-year period.

"It's a popular option."

The number locally may have been low in 2006 because that election pitted multiple candidates in a crowded gubernatorial race that included Republican Gov. Rick Perry, Democrat Chris Bell, Independent Kinky Friedman, Independent Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Libertarian James Werner. Perry won with 39 percent of the vote.

In the past decade in Tarrant County, a greater percentage of Republicans than Democrats have voted straight party tickets.

More than half the GOP votes were straight party; 36 to 44 percent of Democrats voted straight party; and 1 percent or less of straight party tickets were cast by Libertarians and Green Party members, according to the review of election records.

Straight party voters are counted only at the county level. Statewide figures aren't available.

"Straight party voting has increased in recent years, especially among Republicans," said Lyle Brown, a professor emeritus of political science at Baylor University in Waco. "In 2010, it appears that Tea Party people were part of this trend. As partisan politics has become stronger, straight party voting is a logical result."

At least a dozen states allow straight ticket voting during the November general election: Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and West Virginia, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

In recent years, states ranging from Illinois to New Hampshire have done away with the practice.

Time for change?

State Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, tried several times to pass a bill removing the straight party option in Texas.

Wentworth said he wasn't trying to change the way people voted. But he did want them to read the names on the ballot, instead of just casting a straight party vote.

"If people want to vote for every Republican or Democrat on the ballot, that is their privilege as free Americans," he has said.

"What I want them to do is look at the name."

But Wentworth's effort failed each time, and he lost his primary bid for re-election this year. Now it is uncertain whether another lawmaker will try to eliminate straight party voting.

State Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, has vocally supported doing away with it, saying the system overall can confuse voters who want to alter their ballots after choosing the straight party option.

He has also voters who choose the straight party option may overlook referendums at the bottom of the ballot.

"If you want to go through the list and select every member of your party, then knock yourself out," he has told the news media. "I'm happy to give people convenience, but I want more people to actually vote and make decisions up and down the ballot."

Some say any effort to do away with straight party voting in Texas could backfire.

"Many citizens are more interested in their personal problems, media celebrities and athletics than in politics, so they don't attempt to evaluate all candidates," Brown said.

"In view of the fact that a large percentage of qualified voters do not vote, getting some Texans to the polls is a major achievement, even if they vote along straight party lines.

"Many voters would never find their way to candidates at the bottom of the ballot if they could not cast a straight party vote."

Anna M. Tinsley, 817-390-7610

Twitter: @annatinsley

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