Some NH Republicans have filed a bill to bring back straight ticket voting. It used to be that there were boxes on top of the ticket that enabled you to vote with one check for the candidates of either the Democratic or the Republican Party. One was not required to READ the ballot, just vote for party loyalty.
Today's story from NHPR:
The four sponsors of the bill to restore it are Republicans. One of the sponsors, Representative Fred Rice of Hampton, says having the straight ticket option would be a matter of convenience and could speed the polling process.
This is the same NH GOP that passed the unnecessary Voter ID bill, which has caused the process to be inconvenient and slow.
In 2012 the NH legislature passed a big redistricting bill. Those who were a little more daring might call it gerrymandering. In any case, it was designed to protect Republican seats, and guarantee Republican majorities.
And still they lost control of the NH House in November. Speaker O'Brien (whose district was designed to protect him) barely kept his seat, winning by only 67 votes. The sudden interest in returning to straight ticket voting is telling us that the NH GOP fears the only way they can win elections is by gerrymandering and gimmickry.
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