By Keaton Ross, Oklahoma Watch
The popularity of Oklahoma’s straight-party voting option appears to be waning after a record-breaking surge four years ago.
Just under 38% of Oklahoma voters who participated in the Nov. 5 election checked the option to vote straight party for Republicans, Democrats or Libertarians in all partisan races, according to data provided Wednesday by the Oklahoma State Election Board. That’s down from 45.5% in 2020, when more than 700,000 voters filled the bulk of their ballot with the stroke of a pen, and 42% in the 2022 midterm election.
Among the voters who cast a straight-ticket ballot, 69% checked yes for Republicans, 29.6% voted for Democrats and 1.4% marked Libertarian. These voters had the option to override the straight-party option in individual races by separately marking a candidate of a different party.
The straight-party option was most popular in southern and eastern parts of the state. Love County had the highest percentage of voters marking the straight-party option at 46.81%. (Click her for graphics.)
Oklahoma is one of six states, along with Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and South Carolina, that offers a straight-party voting option, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Oklahoma election officials have offered the straight-party option since statehood, when some voters were illiterate and could more easily fill their ballot by checking yes on their preferred party’s logo. Backers of the method in modern elections argue it’s convenient and can help speed up the voting process, while critics maintain it’s lazy and discourages voter engagement.
Several states, including Texas, Pennsylvania and Utah, have passed laws banning straight-party voting over the past decade. The reasons vary and don’t fall along party lines. In Utah, the primary author of the bill to remove straight-party voting said voters were confused by the option and often submitted their ballot without weighing in on nonpartisan races and ballot initiatives. Texas Democrats opposed the Republican-majority legislature’s decision to ban straight-party voting in 2017, arguing that it would lead to longer lines in urban counties.
Several Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, have authored bills over the past five years seeking to end straight-party voting. None have received a committee hearing, the first hurdle a bill must overcome to become law.
Oklahoma Watch reporter Paul Monies contributed to this report.
Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.
