Straight-ticket option should stay

Let’s play a quick game of “Choose Your Own Adventure.”

Meet Bill. Bill whistled as he drove to his local elementary school on Tuesday morning. Bill didn’t have any kids attending school, but that’s not why he was whistling. It was election day, and he came to perform his civic duty.

Bill had read the state voter information guide, and watched some of the candidate forums in his community. He took his voting seriously. Bill planned to vote for the Republican for sheriff and the Democrat for treasurer because he considered each to be the most qualified candidate.

Bill gave a friendly smile to the poll worker, took his ballot to the booth and ... disaster struck.

There was an option for straight-ticket balloting. This means a vote for one party puts a check in the box of everybody in that party.

Does Bill:

• Go Republican and put the less qualified treasurer in office? (Skip to the final paragraph)

• Go Democrat and put the less qualified sheriff in office? (Skip to the final paragraph)

A word about straight-ticket voting, as it’s come up over the last week. Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse-Oliver announced Wednesday straight-ticket voting would appear in November’s general election.

The attorney general’s office claims straight-ticket voting falls under the umbrella of ballot format that is left to the secretary of state. The state Republican and Libertarian parties planned lawsuits.

I think this should be decided by New Mexicans, whether it’s done through the Legislature they elected or through a ballot question the Legislature provides them. I wouldn’t have a problem if the court required Toulouse-Oliver to do either of those things.

Attorney general opinion noted, I don’t think Toulouse-Oliver should be deciding on her own that straight-ticket voting should come back midway through an election season.

Likewise, I don’t think then-Secretary Dianna Duran should have decided on her own to eliminate straight-ticket voting midway through an election season. Duran eliminated the straight-ticket option following the 2012 primaries, noting there was nothing that specifically authorized it under state law.

I think we should have kept straight-ticket voting because nothing outlawed it, and I don’t want an option eliminated from my life because the government doesn’t specifically codify authorization. I can hold that view, and still hold no desire to vote straight-ticket.

The opponents of straight-ticket voting argue it increases partisanship, but I think we’re confusing encouragement with reflection. Those people who call in to C-SPAN thanking the Russians for working to keep Hillary Clinton out of the Oval Office are not voting for Democrats, and that’s the plan whether it takes them 12 pen strokes or one. Partisanship already exists; save those voters an extra 30 seconds.

Also, if you can’t convince Bill to spend an extra 30 seconds finding your name on the ballot, did you really run an adequate campaign?

Bill didn’t use the straight-ticket option, because it’s just an option. He voted for who he wanted. So can you.

Kevin Wilson is managing editor of The Eastern New Mexico News. Contact him at: [email protected]