Secretary of State Kris Kobach proposed two election bills Wednesday, one to bring back straight-ticket party voting and another that would make death the only excuse for a candidate’s name to be withdrawn from an election. The two bills are in addition to his ongoing effort to convince the Legislature to let him prosecute voting fraud. A straight-ticket system allows voters to check a single box with the name of a political party to cast a vote for every member of that party on the ballot. Kobach said he wants to bring back the straight-ticket option to cut down on the number of voters who come to the polls, vote in the major races and leave the rest of the ballot blank.
“I think it will improve participation in races down the ballot and it’s a matter of voter convenience too,” Kobach said. “It’s just another way of assisting the voter.”
He said it also could reduce voting lines because marking a straight ticket would take only seconds, instead of the several minutes it takes to work through a long ballot race by race.
Full Article: Kris Kobach proposes bills to return straight-ticket voting, change election-withdraw procedure | The Wichita Eagle.