Split-ticket voting
Split-ticket voting refers to the practice where a voter selects candidates from different political parties for various offices on the same ballot, contrasting with straight-ticket voting, where a voter chooses candidates solely from one party. This phenomenon can occur in various elections, including general, state, and local races. The political landscape in the United States is marked by significant socioeconomic diversity, leading to varying local and regional political preferences. Voters may opt for split-ticket voting when they feel that candidates from different parties better align with their values and priorities on specific issues.
Registered independents and self-identified moderates often participate in split-ticket voting, with third-party candidates also influencing this behavior. While some states exhibit high rates of split-ticket voting, such as West Virginia and Pennsylvania, others show minimal occurrences, reflecting the diverse electoral dynamics across the country. Notably, the overall trend of split-ticket voting has been declining, with fewer voters planning to split their ballots in recent elections, indicating a shift towards increased political polarization and party loyalty among the electorate.
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Split-ticket voting
Split-ticket voting occurs when a voter casts their ballot for candidates representing different political parties among the various public offices at the national, state, and local levels. The opposite of split-ticket voting is straight-ticket voting, in which a voter chooses candidates of one party for all offices that appear on the ballot.
The US general election determines the outcomes of contests between Republican Party, Democratic Party, and third-party candidates for public offices at all levels, and occurs on the first Tuesday in November. Additionally, states and local districts sometimes hold special elections when a certain office becomes unexpectedly vacated, usually through the officeholder’s resignation or death. Split-ticket voting may occur during general, state, or local elections.
Overview
The United States’ vast socioeconomic diversity is reflected in its political landscape, with certain local areas, states, and regions being reputed as Republican-leaning or Democratic-leaning, conservative or liberal. However, the exact nature of "conservative" or "liberal" politics varies from one area to another, as the specific issues of importance to voters in one locale may differ considerably from voters in another part of a state or section of the country. Thus, voters may feel that certain candidates for a national or state office, for example, more closely reflect their own political values and preferences—even if that candidate identifies with a different party. This perception often leads to split-ticket voting in general elections. Registered independents (those unaffiliated with a party on their registration) and self-identified moderates are more likely to engage in split-ticket voting. Third-party candidacies also tend to increase split-ticket voting.
Voters generally do not split the ticket when voting for national offices like president and US senator: 7 percent of voters in the 2012 election split the ticket when voting for president and US senator. The rates of split-ticket voting fluctuate tremendously from state to state, from 1 percent among Wyoming voters to 23 percent among West Virginians in 2012. One prominent example of consistent split-ticket voting is Pennsylvania. Despite voting for the Democratic candidate in the six presidential elections from 1992 to 2012, Pennsylvanians chose the Republican candidate in five of the seven Senate elections in that period, two of them during presidential election years (2000 and 2004). Similarly, in 2012, the state elected thirteen Republican congressional representatives while favoring a Democrat for president. Montana, North Dakota, and Rhode Island are other states well known for their federal ticket splitting.
Split-ticket voting appears to be declining among Americans, however. In the 2012 general election, only about 20 percent of states with Senate races voted different parties’ candidates for president and senator, down from 52 percent in 1988. Ahead of the 2020 presidential election, the Pew Research Center found that only 4 percent of voters planned to vote for a presidential candidate that did not match the party of the senate candidate they anticipated voting for on the same ballot. The decline of split-ticket voting reflects a growing national trend toward political polarization between liberals and conservatives, characterized by voters’ unfailing loyalty to their respective parties and legislators’ reluctance to compromise in Congress.
Bibliography
Balz, Dan. Collision 2012: The Future of Election Politics in a Divided America. New York: Penguin, 2014. Print.
Dalton, Russell J. "Switchers, Splitters, and Late Deciders." The Apartisan American. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2013. 129–50. Digital file.
Edwards, Mickey. The Parties versus the People. New Haven: Yale UP, 2013. Print.
"Large Shares of Voters Plan to Vote a Straight Party Ticket for President, Senate and House." Pew Research Center, www.pewresearch.org/politics/2020/10/21/large-shares-of-voters-plan-to-vote-a-straight-party-ticket-for-president-senate-and-house/. Accessed 11 Oct. 2024.
Ostermeier, Eric. "Which States Have the Most Split-Ticket Voting in Presidential-U.S. Senate Election Cycles?" Smart Politics, University of Minnesota, 5 Apr. 2011, smartpolitics.lib.umn.edu/2011/04/05/which-states-have-the-most-spl/. Accessed 11 Oct. 2024.
Steinhauer, Jennifer. "Wary of Trump Effect, Republicans Hope for Split Tickets." New York Times, 28 Apr. 2024, www.nytimes.com/2016/04/29/us/politics/republicans-ticket-splitting.html. Accessed 11 Oct. 2024.
Vavreck, Lynn. "The Power of Political Ignorance." The Upshot, New York Times, 23 May 2014, www.nytimes.com/2014/05/25/upshot/the-power-of-political-ignorance.html. Accessed 11 Oct. 2024