News
Straight-ticket Voting No Longer Allowed In West Virginia
By: Associated Press
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant is reminding voters that they will no longer be able to check one box to vote party-line down the ballot.
A secretary of state news release says lawmakers eliminated straight-ticket voting in the 2015 legislative session. Voters now will have to select every candidate individually if they want to vote for all candidates from one political party.
Voters cast more than 126,400 straight-ticket ballots in the 2014 general election.
About 462,900 people turned out to vote, meaning 27 percent of voters used the straight-party option last general election.
In the 2014 general election, 53 percent of straight-ticket ballots were Republican and 42 percent went for Democrats. The rest opted for other parties.