Indiana lawmakers have enacted a significant change for anyone casting a straight-party ballot. A new state law requires that those opting for just one party on the ballot take the additional steps of selecting individual candidates in all at-large races, according to one of the bill’s sponsors, Rep. David Ober, R-Albion. No ballots will be cast in at-large races without taking these additional few steps, he said. The change was enacted because when those casting a straight-party ballot on electronic equipment chose to support candidates of the opposing party in at-large races, those latter changes were not being counted, Ober said.
There have also been problems with straight-party voters not going to the end of the electronic ballots as is required to complete their vote, he said.
Porter County Councilman Dan Whitten, D- at-large, who is seeking re-election, to his at-large seat, does not buy the explanation. “It’s completely unnecessary,” he said. “It completely divests voters of the strength of their vote.”
Democrats cast more straight-party ballots than Republicans in every general election in Porter County for the last five years, with the exception of 2014, according to records posted online by county government.
Full Article: State makes big change for straight-party voters | Government and Politics | nwitimes.com.