Straight Party

As long as I have been voting, our state’s general elections offered the ability to vote “straight party.”[i] Straight party voting gives voters the option of completing their entire ballot with a single mark – a mark that votes for every candidate running for a specific party (e.g. Democrat, Green, Libertarian, Republican, etc.). This year we did not have that option. In 2017, the Texas state legislature passed HB25, ending the practice of straight party voting – beginning with the 2020 election. Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill into law June 2, 2017.

From the standpoint of politics, straight-party voting in Texas apparently favored the Democrats. At the least, both the Republican and Democratic parties thought so. First, the Republican Party is the majority in Congress and hold the governor’s seat, so they are most responsible for passing the bill. Second, since the Democratic sued over the change in March 2020, they must have thought straight-party voting helped their cause.[ii] In September 2020, with less than 3 weeks to the start of early voting, a federal judge blocked Texas from eliminating straight-party voting. Whatever the ins and outs of the suit and its outcome, we did not have straight-party voting on the ballot.

As a practical matter, straight-party voting helps “down-ballot” candidates – candidates whom voters often do not know and might not vote for otherwise. Ideally, the elimination of straight-party voting would force voters to make choices that are more informed on the down-ballot races. More likely, they will make ill-informed choices or just simply not vote for them at all. Straight-party voting may also expedite the voting process, making a quick one-stop experience rather than wading through each selection individually.

As a matter of principle, I do not like straight-party voting. A position is no better than the person who holds it. While party alignment reflects something about principles, voters should give serious thought to the beliefs, experience, and qualifications of each individual candidate. In practice, even if I knew ahead of time that I would be voting for candidates who all belonged to one party, I never chose to vote for the party, but selected each candidate individually.[iii]

Christians who are “all in” for a “straight party” probably are neither careful voters nor careful Christians. Christian culture is created in Christ and is prescribed in the New Testament. Though times change and cultures differ, the Christian culture is unique and exists independently of world cultures. Christian culture is neither Jewish nor Gentile (Romans 10:12, 1 Corinthians 10:32, Colossians 3:11). “Christian politics” is neither Democrat nor Republican, but seeks consistently to follow biblical principles, and will dissent from parties or candidates when they diverge from biblical principles. The culture of gathering believers – which exists outside of and independently from world governments, cultures, and standards – is universal and permanent, having neither command to change nor necessity to conform. We must be “all in” for Jesus Christ and his word.

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[i] Also known as “straight-ticket” voting. Apparently, most states don’t offer this option. According to one article I read, Texas was one of only eight states that still have straight-party voting. And then there were seven.

[ii] That they waited three years to sue seems suspiciously more like wanting to throw the November 2020 process into a kink.

[iii] Very seldom have I voted for all candidates of one party, and probably in most elections there has been some office for which I did not choose any of the candidates.

A Demon’s Guide to the Election

A Demon’s Guide to the Election: How C.S. Lewis addressed national division

“...we will not serve this moment or any righteous cause well unless we keep certain things straight. We must not confuse the end with means. We must not confuse the King of Heaven and earth with the princes of this world. We must not confuse the potential of politics with the hope of resurrection.”

Why some Christians will vote for Donald Trump

Many people seem to wonder about why some Christians will vote for Donald Trump. If those same people also wonder why some Christians will vote for Joe Biden, their amazement is probably legitimate. If not, it is likely just politics as usual. 

In the linked article, Baptist pastor Kent Brandenburg gives Three Reasons Christians should vote for Trump. Perhaps this will help those who wish to understand.

• If you pray 1 Timothy 2:1-4, you should vote for Donald Trump, since he will defend religious liberty.
• If you sigh and cry over the abomination of abortion, you must vote for Donald Trump.
• If you value free speech and oppose communist Antifa thugs Burning, Looting, and Murdering (BLM), then you must vote for Donald Trump.

Electors select Donald Trump

For all the squawking about the Electoral College and faithless electors, the results turned out much as expected. Last night ABC reported that Donald Trump Cruised to Electoral College Victory Despite Protests, garnering 304 electoral votes to 227 for Hillary Clinton (270 Electoral College votes were needed to win the presidency).

There were "faithless electors," but more on the Democratic side than Republican. According to AP's Stephen Ohlemacher, "With all Republican states reporting, Trump lost only the two electors in Texas. One voted for Kasich, the Ohio governor; the other voted for former Texas Rep. Ron Paul. Clinton lost four electors in Washington state — three voted for former Secretary of State Colin Powell and one voted for Native American tribal leader Faith Spotted Eagle. She also lost an elector in Hawaii to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders."

Random thoughts on the voting scene

(With apologies to Thomas Sowell)

Today I performed my "civic duty" and voted this afternoon after I got off work. Over the past several years I have developed a healthy and increasing cynicism about politics and politicians, but I haven't quit voting.

The ballot. The ballot was pretty full of statewide and local candidates, as well as one constitutional amendment (and local school board) -- today you could even vote for Quanah Parker and Sam Houston (there's no place like Texas!). I like the idea of voting on constitutional amendments, but it is a pretty anemic process with probably in most cases the electorate having little or no idea on what they are voting. I voted for some Republicans and more Libertarians (no Democrats). The Libertarians fielded a very thorough slate of candidates, in several cases being the only challenger to the Republican candidates. Despite that, the Libertarian party does not win in very many cases. I understand my vote as a sort of expression of my views and a "none of the above" ballot, in the sense that I don't hold out a lot of hope for these guys winning. But, NO, I don't think a vote for who I think ought to win is a wasted vote!

Voter ID law. We voted under the new voter id law, though it may not hold up to further scrutiny. As both a voter and a former election judge, I like it. I don't really understand all the outcry against it. I think both sides do a lot of spinning -- enough to make a normal person dizzy -- which may be more about scoring political points than about expressing the truth. No, there is probably not as much voter fraud as those who support the voter id might want us to think. No, requiring a picture id is not the "new poll tax" to disenfranchise minority votes that the opponents decry it as. Most people already operate with some kind of a picture id, and it's not much of a problem to get one if you don't (and, by the way, you could vote a provisional ballot even if you didn't have it). Yet, that the polls accept concealed handgun licenses but not college IDs may reveal some of the bias of those who drew up the law. But, seriously, shouldn't the poll workers have some way of knowing that the person is a citizen of the state in which he or she is voting? My experience as an election judge was in a small rural voting box. Some one of us (and often all of us) who worked the polls almost always knew the folks who were voting. But if you live in a high population area with lots of folks you aren't familiar with, how do you know that person is really the person holding the cardstock registration card with someone's name on it? That said, I think more of the problems at the polls (and the lists drawn up before we get to the polls) is human error rather than deliberate fraud. From what I've seen, the greatest potential for fraud is in the mail-in ballots. From the standpoint of me the voter, I loved the voter id today. It's hard to keep up with that little card the county mails out and I seldom use. But I always know where my driver's license is! Just match up my DL with the registration on the books and I'm ready to vote. No pain. Much gain.

Electronic voting. One former election judge I worked with would not use the new electronic voting machines. He asked for a paper ballot at every election up until the time he died. I'm not so old and set in my ways to decry the electronic voting as too new-fangled. It speeds up the process in many ways. But...there is one sense of loss. At the end there is only the screen telling you "thank you for voting". There was something final and fulfilling in dropping the paper ballot into the voting box and as you walk out the door!