No straight ticket voting on this Election Day

 

October 25, 2018



 Straight ticket voting will not be an option in this November election.

 This phrase describes when voters can fill in a single option on a ballot to vote for every candidate in one political party.

 John Gleason, Genesee County clerk, said, "It's a horrible decision" not to have

the option to vote straight ticket.

 This past September, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a last-minute request to hear a case that could have kept straight ticket voting on the ballot Nov. 6. The court denied the request without citing a reason, according to The Detroit News. This occurred after the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order that straight party voting will not be on the November ballot.

 "They did it too late in the process and he didn't have time to educate voters going to the polls," Gleason said. "We have many senior citizens that would go in and vote straight Democrat or straight Republican. Not everyone wants to go through every party's race and indicate their preference, which is very time consuming."


 He said he doesn't care how people vote, just that they vote.

 "It's none of my business if someone wants to vote straight party. They should be allowed to do that," he said.

 He said this will cause longer lines at the polls this November, especially with multiple proposals on the ballot. He also expects election workers to be "chastised" by those used to voting straight ticket.

 "As many people as possible should vote absentee" to remedy this, Gleason said.

 Straight ticket voting has helped both parties in the past. Gleason said many voters in the 2016 elections voted straight-ticket Republican for President Donald Trump.

Proposal 18-3

Voters will be able to vote yes or no on straight ticket voting this November. Proposal 3 asks people if they want to authorize automatic and Election Day voter registration; no-reason absentee voting and straight ticket voting; and to add current legal requirements for military and overseas voting and post-election audits to the Michigan Constitution.

 

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