Voters in Michigan will be allowed to vote for an entire party ticket with a single mark on the November ballot. A federal judge says a new law to ban that option violates the rights of urban, African-American voters.
A study showed the straight-ticket option was used on 70 percent of the ballots cast in Detroit and Flint in recent elections. The cities typically have high Democratic voter turnout.
Attorney Mary Ellen Gurewitz says Michigan has allowed straight-ticket voting for 120 years. She says ending it would lead to confusion at the polls and longer lines on Election Day, and a federal judge agreed.
“So, two and a half million voters in the November elections will find that they can continue to vote in the efficient way that they have done in the past.”
The state could appeal the decision. But the issue has to be settled in time for absentee ballots to be printed and mailed out by the legal deadline of September 24th.