Voting Straight Ticket? Check the Rest of Your Ballot
Alabama voters can cross party lines after voting straight ticket, but amendments still require a separate vote
TL;DR: A straight-party vote does not lock you into every candidate from that party. Individual candidate choices override it, and amendments must be marked separately.
Alabama voters can cast a straight-party ballot Tuesday, but don't assume one bubble finishes the job.
Voters can fill in the oval for either the Republican or Democratic Party. That automatically casts votes for that party's candidates in partisan races.
But voters can still cross party lines.
For example, a voter can mark Straight Republican and then “bubble in” a Democrat or Independent in an individual race. The vote for the Democrat/Independent overrides the straight-Republican choice in that race only. The voter's Republican choices remain in place for the other partisan races.
The same rule applies to a straight-Democratic voter who chooses an individual Republican or Independent.
Straight-ticket voters can also “write in” candidates by filling in the appropriate bubble and then clearly printing the name of their person of choice. Be aware: exact spelling of the name is critical to this vote being properly counted!
There is another important catch.
Straight-ticket voting does not cast votes on constitutional amendments or other nonpartisan ballot questions. Voters must mark those choices separately.
So, even if you vote straight party, keep going.
Review the entire ballot before turning it in. Make sure every vote says what you intended it to say.
And if you intend to write in a candidate, here’s how:
