Dems losing advantage on straight ticket voting.

Historically, the West Virginia Democratic Party has enjoyed a significant advantage on Election Day with straight ticket voting.  A decisive edge in registration, combined with popular Democratic candidates at the top of the ticket, caused large numbers of voters to mark the rooster.

For example, in the 2006 General Election, with Senator Robert Byrd at the top of the ticket, 105-thousand Democrats voted straight ticket, compared with only 50-thousand Republicans.   Nearly one in four votes cast in the election was a Democratic straight ticket ballot.

As a result, down ballot Democratic candidates reaped the benefits. 

However, that trend is shifting for several reasons.

–Democratic voter registration continues to decline.  Ten years ago, 60 percent of all West Virginia voters were Democrats.  That has dropped to 52 percent today as older voters die and more voters register as Independents.  (The percentage of Republicans held steady during that period at 29 percent).

–Republicans are voting straight ticket in higher percentages.   In 2010, there were 81,245 straight ticket Democratic votes and 69,926 straight ticket Republican votes.  That means Democrats had only an eight percentage point advantage in straight ticket votes even though they had a 25 percentage point advantage in registration.

–Voters are more independent than they used to be.  They have more information and are increasingly willing to vote for the candidate instead of the party. 

–Senator Byrd is no long on the ballot. Democrats could always count on the popular politician to lead the ticket every six years.  The Senator passed away in 2010 after being elected continuously to Congress since 1952.

–Democratic Presidential nominees for the last few elections have not been popular in West Virginia.  Al Gore, John Kerry and Barack Obama have all failed to carry the state in the last three elections.

In 2008, with Obama at the top of the ticket, the difference between the number of Democratic and Republican straight ticket votes narrowed to four percent (13 percent of all votes cast were Democratic straight ticket while nine percent were Republican).   In 2010, the difference dropped to just two percent (15 percent to 13 percent).

This year, with Obama even less popular in West Virginia, Republican leaders believe that the GOP will, for the first time in memory, have a legitimate chance of more ticket votes than the Democrats. Even some Democratic leaders concede the straight ticket advantage may swing to the Republicans this year.

Straight ticket voting dates back to the earliest elections in this country when voters simply told a poll clerk who they wanted to vote for.  Since they often couldn’t remember the names of all the candidates, they just named the party.

Gradually, most states have moved away from the practice.  West Virginia is one of just 15 states that still allows one mark for all races. 

The Democrat-dominated state Legislature has never been inclined to eliminate this archaic practice because it served their party. However, with straight ticket voting now about to reach equilibrium, it’s a good time for both parties to agree on shelving this relic.