Debunking Election Myths: Don't Worry, Your Straight-Ticket Vote Is Totally Okay
Fear not, straight-ticket voters.
Julianne Hing Nov 6, 2012 12:55PM ET
Photo Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Among the rumors and misinformation floating around today is one that's very easy to debunk–if you're voting anywhere but North Carolina. Do not fear–your straight-ticket voting is perfectly valid, and will include a vote for the president. Nevertheless, rumors to the contrary are populating the social mediasphere and even reaching the [Election Protection](http://www.866ourvote.org/) hotline. So reports Kemi Bello, a Voting Rights Watch [community journalist](http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/09/voting_rights_watch_community_journalists.html) from Texas, who is monitoring the Election Protection feed today. The [Florida Times-Union](http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-08-04/story/fact-check-despite-email-warning-straight-ticket-voting-isnt-even#ixzz2BT1KeSsy) explains the one exception to this rule: > In North Carolina, however, the warning in the viral email could be a good one. > In that state, straight-ticket voting is allowed, but only for races other than president/vice president. So if you vote a straight ticket, you must vote separately for the president and vice president. > A state law passed in 1967 prohibits the combination of the vote for president with any other office on the ballot, according to the state's election website. Still, rumors are popping up in [Pontiac, Michigan](https://electionawareness.appspot.com/report/35215); [Stewartstown, Pennsylvania](https://electionawareness.appspot.com/report/35263) and [elsewhere](https://electionawareness.appspot.com/report/35272). The rumor is so widespread that a spokesperson from Alabama's Secretary of State [responded](http://blog.al.com/breaking/2012/11/sec_of_state_rumor_about_strai.html) to the talk today to assure voters that straight-ticket voting, a ballot option allowing voters to vote for a party's entire slate of candidates with a single mark, is a valid way of voting that will indeed include a person's pick for president. Once an unavoidable part of the voting process, today just [15 states](http://www.ncsl.org/legislatures-elections/elections/straight-ticket-voting.aspx) offer straight-ticket voting. They are: Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.
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