GREENFIELD — Straight party-line voting could be eliminated under bills being considered by the state Legislature.
In Hancock County, where a third to half of all voters vote straight-ticket, the change will take a lot of getting used to.
But that’s a good thing, according to local Democrats and Libertarians, who insist straight-ticket voting here hurts their chances at being elected. Voters would be required to judge each candidate by his or her own merit, they say.
Hancock County Republican Chairwoman Janice Silvey disagrees; she says it would just take away a voter’s right to choose a favorite party.
“I agree it would force (voters) to look at each person and make a decision, but if it’s their choice that they want to vote straight ticket, I think they should be able to do that,” Silvey said.
Republican candidates benefit from straight-ticket voting here: In the last five general elections, between 72 and 82 percent of the people who cast a ballot by party did so for the GOP, according to records from the Hancock County Election Office.
Silvey said regardless of party affiliation, all voters should have a choice in how they vote. That choice, she says, should include straight-ticket voting.
While last year’s voter turnout was low, it had the highest percentage of straight-ticket voters in recent years: 50 percent of voters did so by party; 82 percent of those circled Republican.
Statewide data on straight-ticket voting isn’t available because Indiana election law doesn’t require counties to report it. But the idea of eliminating the practice seems to be gaining traction.
Senate Bill 201 would eliminate it entirely; Senate Bill 471 would test the concept with three pilot counties.
“We think it’s best that voters are informed and vote for the person and don’t just check a box,” said Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma, who represents part of Hancock County.
Bosma said GOP and Democratic leaders have vacillated in their thoughts about straight-ticket voting over the years.
“We’ll see,” he said. “It’ll be a long discussion for both parties in both chambers.”
It’s a discussion worth having, said Phil Hunt, chairman of the Hancock County Democratic Party.
“I never have voted straight ticket in my life, and I probably never will,” he said. “I think (eliminating straight-ticket voting is) just a good deal that makes people think about who they’re going to vote for instead of just pull the party lever – I don’t care which party it is.”
Democrat Mike Merlau agrees. Merlau has run unsuccessfully four times in the last four county elections. People who only darken the Republican circle are partly to blame for his election losses, he says, because they don’t pay attention to what he stands for.
“I think it’d make a huge difference,” he said of the Democratic Party.
Libertarian Phil Miller doesn’t know whether the elimination of straight-ticket voting would have helped him secure the Greenfield mayoral seat back in 2011. But it certainly wouldn’t have hurt.
“People will have to pay attention to what they’re doing rather than blindly voting for one party,” he said.
Andy Smith, president of the Hancock County Libertarian Party, says straight-ticket voting is especially a problem in presidential election years. People tend to pay attention to the top race and have firmly made up their mind: But a vote for Mitt Romney back in 2012 shouldn’t necessitate votes for all Republicans on the ballot, he cited as one example. State, county, city and township races are also important, and people should research the best candidates at all levels, he said.
That’s because, Smith says, a Republican incumbent candidate might have voted against your beliefs on a local matter, like taxation or annexation.
“(By eliminating straight-ticket voting) you also encourage voters to look at the candidate at each race,” he said. “Obviously, by requiring a voter to go down, line by line, on the ballot, they will look at each race individually or judge each race by its merit.”
Perhaps the most well-known local race in which straight-ticket voting led to a surprise victory was in 2012, when Democrat Crystel Myers won the coroner seat against two independent candidates. The independents were both Republicans but could not sign up as such because the former Republican candidate, Tamara Vangundy, was forced from the race.
That year, 70 percent of straight-ticket voters cast a Republican ballot, effectively not voting for any candidate in the coroner’s race.
That, Silvey says, led to Myers’ win. She says in that case, it might have been better for Republicans if straight-ticket voting hadn’t been an option. They might have elected one of their own listed as independents.
“There’s a pro and a con to both ways,” she said. “I do think it would upset a lot of people that have always voted straight ticket to take that away from them. I think it would upset them.”
Still, bill sponsor Rep. Dave Ober, R-Albion, says he believe a change in the state’s vothing system is needed.
“As we revolutionize elections, and technology continues to creep into the way we campaign and the information available to voters, it’s clear folks are looking at candidates rather than party affiliation,” he said. “We don’t put donkeys and elephants on our signs anymore.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.