Democracy works best when voters are informed. At a bare minimum, voters should have to actually read the name of the office and names of the candidates that they will decide between. It is an insult to the candidates and informed voters that some choose to vote in elections without even looking at the names on the ballot.
One common objection to eliminating straight-ticket voting is that it would lead to long lines at the polls. This objection is without merit. This might be true if Michigan used direct recording or puchcard machines, but we use optical scan machines that count votes but do not record them directly. The only potential lines at the polls are the line to receive a ballot and the line to submit it, neither of which are affected by the amount of time it takes to fill out the ballot.
Only ten states have straight ticket voting, and the other forty seem to manage fine without it. Michigan should join them.
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