“And I want all of you to vote the strraaiigghht ticket when you go to the polls in November.” How many times have we heard this, and from how many politicians?
Too many times and from too many politicians.
And that’s why I say New Mexico Secretary of State Dianna Duran did something very clever just a couple of weeks ago when she got rid of the straight-party option, effective in the general election in November. I applaud the move. Remember, a slew of straight-party voters made it possible for Jerome Block to get elected to the Public Regulation Commission, even if other circumstances forced him to vacate that position.
Officials who take a look at the final tallies to certify the vote can tell how many voted for all Democrats or all Republicans, but not who voted that way.
I remember as a reporter for the Optic many elections ago when key office holders like Edwin L. Mechem, John Burroughs, David Cargo, Jack Campbell, Jerry Apodaca, Toney Anaya, Garry Carruthers, Gary Johnson and others would come to Vegas to kick-start campaigns. Sure, they would often tout their favorite sons and daughters, possibly someone running for a state office or even congress.
Peppering the leaders’ speeches were liberal insertions of “straight ticket.” Now what’s wrong with this picture?
Primarily, that weird provision that lets a voter mark a big “X” at the top of the paper ballot, or pull one big lever. That action casts all that person’s votes for every Democrat or Republican on the slate.
When did the thought process leave the voting booth, and when did the party become paramount? It is true that the two-party system, long a part of our electoral process, is dear to many, in addition to its being a means by which parties with divergent philosophies identify themselves.
That’s fine, but what’s wrong with having people vote for the person rather than the party? It’s discouraging that in the 2010 election, 41 percent of ballots cast — the majority by Democrats — were for a straight ticket. I wonder how many voters — which would include both of my late parents — ever studied the candidates’ qualifications for the office before going for the straight ticket?
In spite of my strong approval of Secretary of State Duran’s new mandate, I admit there’s some criticism of the new policy. Melanie Rivera, the genial San Miguel County Clerk, obviously sees the issue from the vantage point of the director of elections. Rivera doesn’t have an easy job.
She says she prefers the straight-ticket option, if used wisely. The Duran Decree, Rivera says, is sure to lengthen individual’s voting time. Whereas one used to be able to select the entire slate with one “X” or with one tug of a particular lever up high, now, each office needs to be considered individually, or ignored.
And in the interest of time, that’s what bothers some critics of the new system: People in a hurry are bound to simply skip some of the offices at the bottom of the ballot.
Rivera cites other factors that might make voting more difficult. “There are often a lot of constitutional questions and referendums that people need to go through, in addition to the races,” she said.
Several elections back, I chided a man I knew from school for “homesteading.” He entered the booth with his father and needed to go over every race and interpret every amendment for his elderly father.
Was I being rude when I gave a “golf clap” upon their exiting the booth? Perhaps, but I was wondering why the man hadn’t secured a sample ballot and gone over it at home, even helping his father make actual choices — before election day.
Can an election official (or anybody else) rush a voter? No, says the county clerk.
Rivera estimates that 11,000 people voted in the last general election; she said she hopes the November General Election draws more than 60 percent of those registered.
The clerk says she’s heard several disapproving comments on the removal of the straight-ticket feature. “I like the way the straight ballot worked,” Rivera said, “and a lot of the elderly liked it too.”
Another voting policy change of which I approve is the voting convenience centers which were used for the first time in the recent June election. Rather than needing to drive a distance to vote, people had a choice of several venues.
Each site contains “privacy booths” as well. I like this convenience center innovation. But yet … going to the same voting booth — either Don Cecilio Elementary or Luna Community College — allowed my family to see our Camp Luna neighbors, some of whom we hadn’t visited with since … since the last election.
And the speed with which we performed our patriotic duty in the primary election made me wish for the times when we’d dally and chat with Josie Flores, Mary Tarango, John Maldonado, Ernie Martinez, David Sedillo, Nappy Quintana, and a host of other neighbors.
Who knows? I might even begin to miss my former ballot-explaining schoolmate — and his father.