Dr. Carson is probably not the first to propose this law, but removing party designations from ballots would be a nice reform to the current system. Forcing low information voters to learn party affiliations is not a proposal that will ever be supported by the Democratic Party, but it is still nice to see Carson to propose the law anyway.

 

Dr. Ben Carson Has a Proposal for Elections That Would Force People to Know Whom They’re Voting For

 

“I actually would favor a voting system, in which there were no political designations on the ballot, where you actually had to know what the person believed. You had to know how they voted in the past.”

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnJe2fwjiEQ&feature=player_detailpage

I can't believe that "low information voters" only support Democrats. Heck, most of the people I hang with are Republicans; and many are about as "low-information" as you can get.

I can't believe that "low information voters" only support Democrats. Heck, most of the people I hang with are Republicans; and many are about as "low-information" as you can get.

They don't - but there are very few precincts in the country that voted for Romney or McCain at rates approaching or even exceeding 100 percent of the registered voters. I think the law would help conservative candidates more than liberal ones, and I assume that Dr. Carson agrees.

 

Besides, I it would be entertaining to witness Democratic politicians argue against such a bill on the basis that it would be disproportionately unfair to their constituents. It would be a sequel to the Florida hanging chads controversy. :lol2:

I can't believe that "low information voters" only support Democrats. Heck, most of the people I hang with are Republicans; and many are about as "low-information" as you can get.

 

At least in a presidential election, this probably has zero impact. I can't imagine that anyone in this age of TV and Internet wouldn't have any idea what party a presidential candidate represents. Other elections, sure it may have an impact, especially as you get more local. But I agree with Mc, Republicans are just as guilty of voting a straight party ticket as democrats. But all in all, I don't think removing party affiliations would make for better elections. I think what you'd find, is the "low information" voter will just use even more shallow means to base their decisions. Whichever candidate that can be most visible (in other words who has the most money and best marketing machine) will be even more important than it is now. People will then vote for the name they simpy recognize the most. If people don't research now, you can't expect that they'll suddenly start doing research in the future, and in cases of lower visibility elections, especially at the local level, I think the end result is it will make the decisionmaking tougher, and eventually lead to less people voting.

At least in a presidential election, this probably has zero impact. I can't imagine that anyone in this age of TV and Internet wouldn't have any idea what party a presidential candidate represents. Other elections, sure it may have an impact, especially as you get more local. But I agree with Mc, Republicans are just as guilty of voting a straight party ticket as democrats. But all in all, I don't think removing party affiliations would make for better elections. I think what you'd find, is the "low information" voter will just use even more shallow means to base their decisions. Whichever candidate that can be most visible (in other words who has the most money and best marketing machine) will be even more important than it is now. People will then vote for the name they simpy recognize the most. If people don't research now, you can't expect that they'll suddenly start doing research in the future, and in cases of lower visibility elections, especially at the local level, I think the end result is it will make the decisionmaking tougher, and eventually lead to less people voting.

 

Which is probably why this is being proposed by a gentleman who lists to the right.

Do away with straight party voting.

 

And why is it that every time anyone proposes ANYTHING that would possibly lead to a better informed voter someone from the left cries voter suppression?

Do away with straight party voting.

 

And why is it that every time anyone proposes ANYTHING that would possibly lead to a better informed voter someone from the left cries voter suppression?

 

Easy. The left doesn't trust the right and the right doesn't trust the left.

Do away with straight party voting.

 

And why is it that every time anyone proposes ANYTHING that would possibly lead to a better informed voter someone from the left cries voter suppression?

 

I'm not seeing how this proposal accomplishes that.

To remove labels from a ballot is a silly idea and nothing more than grandstanding. That is not going to force people to learn more about candidates, it will either force more people not to vote or blindly vote for the cooler of two names. I am not going to suddenly get interested in some obscure position because a label is not attached to their name on a ballot. Removing the straight ticket option is at least plausible. If any of the politicians were serious, political labels would be removed all together. However, beyond local elections I am not sure any political system is devised to operate by eliminating political parties.

It would cause more people to come from under the hood and say "which one is the democrat/republican?" and would make the line to vote out the door.

It would cause more people to come from under the hood and say "which one is the democrat/republican?" and would make the line to vote out the door.

And ultimately lead to less people voting (from both sides).

Sounds like a complete blind draw...

Removing party affiliation from ballots won't stop people from mentioning who they are affiliated with in their commercials, billboards, etc.

I'm not seeing how this proposal accomplishes that.

 

The only way that it would help is by not letting people who blindly vote for either party to just pick the Rs or Ds. I don't particularly like it either. I do like doing away with the option of voting a straight party ticket.

Straight-party voting has more of an effect on low-profile races. It's just a time-saver. People can vote straight party via one button, then nullify individual votes as desired. Eliminating party designations is nonsense, but should earn Carson a two-minute interview on "Fox and Friends."