A State Senator wants to end the practice of Missourians voting a straight ticket with one punch or one mark. Some peope want to go to the voting booth – punch a hole, mark a box, or twist a lever next to a party label, and leave, confident that all of the candidates in that party will get their vote. Senator John Loudon of Ballwin wants to end it. Loudon would still let people vote for all of the candidates in the same party, but the voter would have to mark or punch next to each name. He says the present system discourages voter participation. An opposing Senator says straight-party voting has benefitted a lot of people. In fact, last November, at least 26 counties went straight Republican.
