What do you think about non-partisan ballots?

[The Backlash Cometh]

The primaries in my area are going to be just for small local positions and the candidate's party affiliation is not listed. That means that the average voter would actually have to find another source to determine if the teacher or judge they're voting for is Republican, Democrat or something other. Or they can wait for the newspaper to give their endorsements.

What does everybody think, in this highly divisive environment we live in, about not being given on the ballot, the party affiliation of the person you're voting for?

[MADem]

1. It sucks.

There are people who "vote the ticket." They do it because their party has been good to them over the years, and frankly, they don't give a shit about the qualities of the individual candidates. They WANT to support 'the machine.' By failing to provide them the identities of the members of their machine, they are denied the right to vote the way they want, unless they remember to clip out that information in the paper or write it down before going to the polls.

[bluestateguy]

2. I think they are stupid

A party label at least provides minimal information to the voter, however small. I don't think the average person, or even an above average person, has the time or ability to do comprehensive research for every single race on the ballot, such as Sanitation Commissioner or Property Tax Assessor. The party label at least tells us what general outlook the candidate has about government. If a candidate is listed as a Democrat, you at least know that he/she probably agrees with the Democratic Party on most of the issues, most of the time. Ideally, we'd hope that voters would seek out more information from their candidates than that, but at least a party label gives us something.

[mcscajun]

3. I think it's one more way to confuse and control the voter.

Especially the inattentive voter. There's a lot of room for chicanery to make people think they're voting for the person they want, and wind up voting for another. I seem to recall a case sometime in the last couple of years where a person with the same name as a candidate was encouraged to put his name on the ballot to confuse the voters. (Wish I could remember more so I could find the citation.)

The more information, the better, I say.

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. All responses were good, I'm just reponding to this one since it was

the last one I read.

What is even more peculiar is that the sample ballot says I can get more information from these candidates if I refer to their webpage. I tried and what I received provided nothing. I guess the webpage is under construction.

[jobycom]

5. For primaries? Austin has non-partisan elections for city offices

but they aren't primaries. I don't understand how you can have a primary and not have parties? Primaries are to choose the candidates who will represent each party.

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. Easy to do when you have a very strong Republican county.

I haven't had a democratic choice for House Rep since I've moved in.

[jobycom]

9. That doesn't answer my question

A primary is a pre-election where each party chooses the candidates that will represent it on the ballot. I don't understand how you can have a primary without telling people what party you are voting for. That doesn't make sense.

In Austin, which is overwhelmingly Democrat, the city elections are non-partisan, though people know usually who the candidate aligns with. But that's the real election, not the primary. They often have run-offs, but not always.

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. I don't think we have two different dates for County elections and

the primary. At least we didn't two years ago when I was a poll worker. But I don't recall that it was called a non-partisan ballot back then either. Never noticed how it was worked before that, or since then. I just assumed the local elections were crammed in on the same day as the primary. Primaries are a mystery to me, except that one or two times I worked as a pollworker, because I'm not eligible to vote in the primaries.

Maybe I'm seeing a sample ballot for a voter who hasn't declared a party affiliation? In my state, you can only vote in the Republican primary if you're a Republican. And you can only vote in the Democratic primary if you're a Democrat. My sample ballot does not include any of those primary races, at all. I just have those races which I can vote for. i.e Judges and school board. Which leads me to believe that there may be a different kind of ballot for those who declare themselves as Republicans, and yet another for those who declare themselves as Democrats?

Well, you bring up a good point. I'll check to see if the primaries are scheduled on a different day, or if it's the same. Either way, I still wish I knew the party affiliations for the candidates running for school board and judges.

[Zorra]

6. Republicans will always manipulate ambiguity to their advantage.

However, I don't understand why there wouold be candidates from more than one party on a primary election ballot.

In every State in which I have lived, the primary ballots were for one party only. For example, I am a registered Democrat, so I only get to vote in the Democratic primary. The candidates on the ballot are all Democrats, and I am only choosing those I wish to nominate to run in the general election.

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. I guess it's more complicated in Florida.

You can only vote for your own party, which means Independents and No Party voters have less choices to make.

[cmkramer]

11. That's what we have where I live

If you're voting in a primary, you tell them what party you're voting in and they'll give you the appropriate ballot. In a general election, however, there are no party affiliations listed. They also do not list party affiliation in ads. I usually go to the local party website to find out who the Democrat is. However, I've been here over 10 years and the Republican in the race almost always runs unopposed.

I did ask someone about it one time, and they said they liked not having party affiliations listed because that way you voted for the person and not the party. I said, yeah, but sometimes party is important in the case of controlling the legislature, etc.

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. They're so brazen about being Republican around here...

...that when I first displayed my voter registration card to vote in the Baptist church I was assigned, the little old white haired lady that took my card looked at it and asked the second little old white haired lady, "What does 'NP' stand for?" And the second old lady replied, "Not Republican."

...They're so brazen about being Republican around here that for the last two months I thought there was someone called Mike Republican running in the next election because the campaign poster was printed with the first name and party affiliation on the first line, and his last name on the second line.

...They're so brazen about being Republican around here that they really do believe in the concept of stealing something fair and square. And who's going to stop them since no one pays attention to white collar crime at the local level?

[ComerPerro]

13. I will not vote for any Republican, not even for dogcatcher

because I simply do not trust them.

And if they are Republican, I feel I have the right, as a voter, to know.

[The Backlash Cometh]

14. They're not principled. If someone gets cheated, and they know

the party who cheated them, they have no qualms pretending to be friends ando counsel the victim by telling him or her that it's cheaper to take the hit, than it is to file a civil suit. Penny for penny, they may be right, but it leaves an empty hole in your heart when it comes to trusting people or the system.

Republicans may know a lot about real estate, but they don't know a damn thing about community. That's why they make terrible leaders.

[ThomWV]

15. Hell No! I Rely On Party In The Races Where My Attention Is Not Focused

I do not bone up on every single race I vote on. For instance I am not all that interested in who is running for County Surveyor. In cases like that I vote for the Democrat, because his party affiliation is the same as mine and so I presume that for the most part he will make the same decisions I would have had I been filling the post.

So keep the Party label, it is useful.

[BlooInBloo]

16. How amazing. Republicans down in the polls, and suddenly....

... party affiliation disappears from the ballots...

And the doe-eyed among us wonder whether or not it's a good idea.

Great.

[The Backlash Cometh]

17. You know, I was thinking the same thing.