# Do you vote your entire ballot? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 2, 2004, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-vote-your-entire-ballot/272634 "2004-11-02T23:50:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Severian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@Severian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Severian)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-vote-your-entire-ballot/272634/1 "2004-11-02T23:50:47Z")
Do you cast a vote for every office, even if you’ve paid no attention to the candidates involved? Do you cast a vote for those running unopposed? Personally, I voted for President, U.S. House, and State House, and left the rest of the ballot blank. I’ve spoken to people who believe their ballot won’t be counted if they don’t fill it out completely. I know that’s not the case in Minnesota, is it so anywhere? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-vote-your-entire-ballot/272634/2 "2004-11-02T23:59:51Z")
You can vote for just one proposition, or just one office, or all of them. It doesn’t matter. All votes are counted in all states. I cast a vote for everything on the ballot. When in doubt on a proposition, vote no. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-vote-your-entire-ballot/272634/3 "2004-11-03T00:00:05Z")
I voted for everything, though I feel sort of bad about it because I don’t know what a lot of those people stand for. (I voted according to party; Greens where they were running, Dems for president and offices where there wasn’t a Green.) I didn’t want to cast a vote for the unopposed office, because our state representative hasn’t done a thing for this area, but I was afraid the whole ballot wouldn’t get counted if I left one blank, and I didn’t know if there was anyone running as a write-in. I heard that in 2000 some Florida ballots were discounted because they were incomplete; don’t ask for a cite because I don’t have one, and it’s probably not true. I just wanted to be on the safe side. It’s not like the unopposed guy isn’t going to win anyway. ---
**Author:** ![milquetoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@milquetoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milquetoast)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-vote-your-entire-ballot/272634/4 "2004-11-03T00:01:57Z")
> [@Severian](#): > > I’ve spoken to people who believe their ballot won’t be counted if they don’t fill it out completely. I know that’s not the case in Minnesota, is it so anywhere? I also voted in Minnesota. I did not vote for anyone running unopposed. And I did not vote for offices for which I was unfamiliar with the candidates. Like you, I voted for President, U.S. House, and State House. I also voted for Mayor and a few judges. I did not vote for Water Commisioner. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-vote-your-entire-ballot/272634/5 "2004-11-03T00:02:35Z")
I didn’t vote for any of the schoolboard positions because I didn’t know what the candidates stood for. I did vote for president, governor, senator, representative, attorney general and a few other positions though. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-vote-your-entire-ballot/272634/6 "2004-11-03T00:06:02Z")
My ballot was _filled_ with what seemed like tens of judges, many of them running opposed. After going through about five pages of judges on my butterfly ballot (Fourth County Circuit Court of Appeals judge?), I gave up, and skipped to Proposition 1. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-vote-your-entire-ballot/272634/7 "2004-11-03T00:06:35Z")
I vote the whole ballot. I try to learn about the candidates and ballot measures because it’s the local decisions that affect me on a daily basis. I assigned my students to read the voter’s handbook several weeks ago, with a paper due today. One student chastized me in the paper, saying that s/he was not familiar with the issues and that the assignment would have been more helpful if the paper were due earlier (seemed to think it was my fault that s/he didn’t do homework until the night before the election). ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-vote-your-entire-ballot/272634/8 "2004-11-03T00:07:06Z")
I voted for everything, even the non-partisan city council member positions that didn’t have anything about them in the voter’s guide. I picked according to gender (women first, then men) and percieved ethnicity (ethnic looking names before white) in those cases. I’m a white male, for what it’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-vote-your-entire-ballot/272634/9 "2004-11-03T00:09:37Z")
I voted for every office I could find information on the candidates for. Since I’m living overseas, I’m not really up on (to pick a previously mentioned example) school district candidates. But a lot of the people running for local offices do have webpages which at least briefly mention their position on various issues. And I read all the propositions _very_ carefully, especially considering several of them involved allowing Vegas casinos to set up shop in the state. (I’m not a fan.) ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-vote-your-entire-ballot/272634/10 "2004-11-03T00:14:16Z")
I try to vote the whole ballot. On races I don’t really care about (judges, for example), I generally go with the recommendations of the local paper (which was the _Albuquerque Journal_ for 2000 and 2004.) ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-vote-your-entire-ballot/272634/11 "2004-11-03T00:40:23Z")
After double checking that none of the Dems were wackos online, I voted a straight ticket for pres, senate, congress, and state legislature. I skipped a referendum on some gambling thing (I don’t really care one way or another, and I’m going to be moving out of the area within a year, hopefully) and also didn’t vote for town concil, because I don’t get the local paper and didn’t even know what the important issues are, much less where the candidates stood, and for local stuff, party lines aren’t as cut and dried. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-vote-your-entire-ballot/272634/12 "2004-11-03T00:49:54Z")
My ballot was small - Pres, Senator, Representative, 1 judge, 4 school board slots. Nothing else. I looked up info on line about each of the races and had my votes ready once I got to the polls. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-vote-your-entire-ballot/272634/13 "2004-11-03T01:30:06Z")
I vote my entire ballot. I always read the voters’ guide, cover to cover, including the statements from every one of the candidates all the way down to the Pronto Panties on Happy Domo-Kun party, and all the initiative and referendum legalese. I also read the endorsements in several local papers. I don’t vote in unopposed races, but I have a pretty good idea of what I’m doing for everything else. If I’m completely stumped, I vote the opposite of what the _Seattle Times_ recommends, as they can be counted on to be on the wrong side of nine out of ten issues in their endorsements. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-vote-your-entire-ballot/272634/14 "2004-11-03T02:54:59Z")
I try to vote on everything and I use the League of Women Voters guide for much if not all of my opinion. Always seems to be some issue or office I miss each year. Sometimes I defer to my party if it’s an incumbent whose name I recognize. Otherwise I leave uninformed votes blank. I generally ignore party affiliation on everything statewide and consider it to some degree on Federal appointments. I ignore everything my newspaper says because most of their editorials look like they were phoned in. Occasionally they print some relevant fact that I’ve missed (like embezzlement) but mostly its literary crap. Stuff like “we need a change”. WTF does that mean? WHAT needs change? Don’t know what I would do without the League of Women Voters guide. Might just have to send them some money. I’m always amazed how well candidates show their stripes on paper. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-vote-your-entire-ballot/272634/15 "2004-11-03T03:12:37Z")
I never vote for the university stuff, trustees, board of regents, don’t even know what a board of regents does. Voted for all the big one’s mentioned, left blank anyone running unopposed, why stroke their ego anymore? Hmm, I can vote for up to 19 of these circuit judges and there are, oh lookie, 19 running? Onward to the proposals! ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-vote-your-entire-ballot/272634/16 "2004-11-03T03:51:23Z")
I don’t vote unopposed candidates. For the minor offices like clerk of courts I voted for the Greens just because. The only Green vote I actually cast with some consideration was for District Attorney, because our DA broke some promises about how he would handle drug prosecutions and doesn’t go after businesses who illegally short workers on overtime pay. None of the Greens will win but god love 'em for trying. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-vote-your-entire-ballot/272634/17 "2004-11-03T03:52:56Z")
No, I only vote for candidates I know, meaning I skip unknown at-large candidates and always vote no for initiatives, referendums and amendments I don’t understand. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-vote-your-entire-ballot/272634/18 "2004-11-03T03:55:40Z")
I voted almost my entire ballot - skipped a vote on State Assembly because I couldn’t remember who I had decided to vote for. I spent a few hours last night looking at the League of Women Voters website for information on candidates and propositions, and spoke with my SO for a bit. I was really surprised at the number of local candidates who didn’t articulate anything substantive in their profiles on the website. Those who put indecipherable platitudes (e.g. a local office candidate for health district who put “I will uphold the contract as arranged” 😕 ) as their priorities did not get my vote. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-vote-your-entire-ballot/272634/19 "2004-11-03T04:14:42Z")
I only vote the entire ballot if I am informed enough. Cook County has the longest ballot in the country, because we had to vote on approximately eight trillion judges. I did do some research (Chicago Bar Association recommendations, newspaper articles) so I did vote for those, and my ballot was complete this time. But I’ve voted incomplete ballots in the past. ---
**Author:** ![jkirkman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@jkirkman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jkirkman)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-vote-your-entire-ballot/272634/20 "2004-11-03T04:43:09Z")
I NORMALLY research races that mean something to me, skip the rest, skip the unopposed, and vote “no” to all constitutional amendments whether I support them or not. This year, I was so angry at one Party that I voted a straight ticket for the other one, regardless of competency. Guilt by association. And, once again, I voted “no” on all constitutional amendments (My state has the worst constitution in the US—a Byzantine remnant of Jim Crow that is the size of a phone book and incomprehensible to anyone. Every couple of years, someone starts a process to create a new one, and every time, this is quashed by a VERY powerful special interest. I have gotten so disgusted by the process I have vowed to vote down all amendments until they finally replace the damn thing, even if the amendment is for no taxes and free beer for all). Not that you can possibly understand the amendments from the ballot language > [@](#): > > Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, to repeal portions of Section 256 and Amendment 111 relating to separation of schools by race and repeal portions of Amendment 111 concerning constitutional construction against the right to education, and to repeal Section 259, Amendment 90, and Amendment 109 relating to the poll tax. (Proposed by Act 2003-203). As of election time, politicians were STILL arguing over what this actually meant. > [@](#): > > Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, to authorize a county commission of any county or any municipality therein to perform certain actions for the purpose of economic and industrial development in the county. (Proposed by Act 2004-94). Certain Actions? WTF? Does this mean the county commission can go down to Main Street, strip naked, paint themselves red, white, and blue, and play La Marseillaise on kazoos while being fellated by farm animals? Certain actions? What are they talking about? Grrrr. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-vote-your-entire-ballot/272634.md?page=2)