Straight-ticket balloting option clears NM Senate
Posted at: 03/07/2013 5:36 PM
By: The Associated Press
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - A proposal to restore the option of voting a straight party ticket in New Mexico elections is heading to the House.
The Senate approved the measure Thursday on a party-line 24-17 vote. Democrats supported the proposal and Republicans opposed it.
Until the 2012 general election, voters could support a party's slate of candidates by making one mark on the ballot or pressing a single button on a machine.
Straight party votes accounted for 41 percent of ballots cast statewide in the 2010 general election. About 23 percent of the election's total votes were Democratic straight-ticket ballots and 18 percent were Republican.
Opponents said straight-ticket balloting is unfair to minor party and independent candidates. Supporters said voters should have the option and convenience of backing all of a party's candidates.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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