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Straight Ticket Voting
- Thread starter RedAkston
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Ya but the state cannot control on what basis people vote. I oppose straight-ticket voting for the same reason I'd oppose a "Vote for the tallest candidate" checkbox on the ballot. Just because some people are going to vote stupidly doesn't mean the state has to help them vote stupidly.
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Cephus
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The state is neither helping nor preventing stupid voters from voting stupidly, they will do what they do in any case. The state is simply getting the stupid voters out of the way faster so the non-stupid voters behind them don't have to wait in line as long.
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Allowing for a straight party ticket vote with a single entry allows the government to process a large chunk of ballots more efficiently. Cutting the number of boxes to check and verify to one must save at least some money, particularly during meticulous processing such as a recount. Given that there's no real reason to exclude the option I see no need to eliminate it.
Besides, as nice as the sentiments in statements like "Yes, they can still vote for all the candidates of a certain party. But that's the point, they would then be voting for actual candidates." , they hardly justify the nuclear option of eliminating all straight ticket party options everywhere. What about extremely liberal or conservative areas where the vote is 90%+ in one direction anyway? It's perfectly reasonable to offer a straight party ticket option when most of the people, even thoughtful politically minded people, will be voting along party lines.
Besides, as nice as the sentiments in statements like "Yes, they can still vote for all the candidates of a certain party. But that's the point, they would then be voting for actual candidates." , they hardly justify the nuclear option of eliminating all straight ticket party options everywhere. What about extremely liberal or conservative areas where the vote is 90%+ in one direction anyway? It's perfectly reasonable to offer a straight party ticket option when most of the people, even thoughtful politically minded people, will be voting along party lines.