Minorities and elderly voters will likely be the most affected by the elimination of straight-ticket voting in 2020, according to a from the Austin Community College Center for Public Policy and Political Studies.
In 2017, state lawmakers passed a law eliminating the ability for voters to cast just one vote for a party down the entire ballot. It doesn鈥檛 kick in until the 2020 election, though.
Stefan Haag, one of the study's authors, looked at what happened when other states eliminated straight-ticket voting.
鈥淲e found ... other states that eliminated straight-ticket voting were faced with a roll off,鈥� Haag told KUT. That is, people are less likely to cast votes farther down the ballot.
He said roll off usually happens because of "voter fatigue" and that it's more prevalent among voters who are used to voting just once for a party, instead of going race by race. He said those voters are largely African American, but also Hispanic.
"In the large cities in Texas, we found the highest rates of straight-ticket voting," Haag said.
If there is significant roll off, it will likely be in the state鈥檚 urban counties 鈥渂ecause they have the largest number of partisan offices on the ballot,鈥� the authors wrote.
Earlier this year, ACC鈥檚 Center for Public Policy and Political Studies found that of people voted straight ticket in the 2018 election 鈥� almost 68%.
Haag said other states experienced roll-off rates as high as 30% after they eliminated straight-ticket voting.
鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 anticipate that in Texas,鈥� Haag said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it will be that high.鈥�
According to the study, there are 鈥渃ontextual factors鈥� that could reduce roll off in the state鈥檚 large urban counties 鈥� including how competitive a race is. Considering that elections in Texas are getting increasingly competitive, Haag said, roll-off rates likely won鈥檛 be as high as they've been in other states.
And as far as the political effects, Haag said, it鈥檚 hard to predict. While Democratic-leaning voters are more likely to vote straight ticket, both parties in Texas have benefitted from the option.
鈥淪traight-ticket voting tends to be advantageous to particular areas where a party might be strong,鈥� he said. 鈥淔or example, in rural areas of Texas where then Republican Party is strong, straight-ticket voting tends to benefit the Republicans.鈥�
Copyright 2020 KUT 90.5. To see more, visit . 9(MDAxODQzOTgwMDEyMTcyNjI4MTAxYWQyMw004))
