Why NOT to Vote Party Line

Voting in local and state races is important, because the people who are elected for School Board and Railroad Commissioner actually have a a big impact on our lives. 

Unfortunately, while people are often knowledgeable about the candidates for more prominent political offices like Senators and Govenors, many are less knowledgeable about other elected offices like Land Commissioner, Comptroller, and Judges, and being less knowledgeable voters often choose these candidates based on a single factor:  their party.  I have seen evidence of this in my own city, where year after year the "smaller" state and local positions are won by amazingly similar margins, a pattern not seen in the higher ranking positions.  You would expect that the margins would be drastically different in a race where the republican candidate had been tied to a financial scandal and was running against a highly qualified Democrat, and another where the Republican candidate was highly qualified for the job and the Democratic candidate had little experience related to the position, and a third race where two highly qualified candidates with nearly identical positions on the issues were running.  But in all of these races the Republican won by nearly the exact same margin.  This tells me these races were won due to straight party line voting, not the merits of the candidates. I'd be willing to bet that most of the people who voted did not research these candidates at all.

I've been a registered Republican since I could vote, so why does this concern me?  Here's why...

WHY NOT TO VOTE STRAIGHT PARTY LINE:

• Party line votes by uninformed voters can allow corrupt or inept incumbents to remain in office.  

• Candidates sometimes run for "minor" positions in hope that they can work their way up to more powerful political positions.  Some of these candidates may not care very much about the position they're running for, or be very qualified for it. But in districts that predominantly sway towards one party they can be elected entirely through party line votes, pretty much assuring their win if they can win the primary.

• Sometimes the reasons you support a specific party can be irrelevant to the duties of a certain elected position.  For instance, you may usually vote Republican or Democrat because of your views on abortion, but some local positions (like Railroad Commissioner) may have no bearing on anything related that issue.  

• You can't assume that because someone is running as a Democrat or Republican or any other party that they uphold the positions of that party.  In some cases you might find, if you researched all the candidates, that a candidate from a party you don't usually vote for is actually closer to your views on the issues most important to you. 

• Minor races are one place where third party candidates sometimes have a better chance of winning, so if you feel like neither party represents your views well,  local offices are one the best place to give third party candidates a chance. 

I would love to hear what you think about voting straight party line!  Share your opinions below.  And if you have a blog post in any way related to Texas Politics, you can share it here.

This post has been shared on Throwback Thursday.