News

Straight-ticket voting likely had impact on local elections

WVPE 88.1 Elkhart/South Bend | By Michael Gallenberger

Published November 5, 2026 at 6:00 AM EST

Voters wait in line Tuesday at the St. Joseph County Government Services Building in Mishawaka.

Not all the numbers are available yet, but it appears that many candidates in local races benefited from straight-ticket voting.

IU South Bend professor of political science Elizabeth Bennion says the "Blue No Matter Who" slogan was seen consistently from Democratic candidates at all levels of races. "That may have been what some folks, who consider themselves independent and perhaps even some protest voters who historically vote Republican, may have decided to do," Bennion said Wednesday.

In St. Joseph County, she says most of the people who voted in the state and federal races stuck around for the county portion of the ballot, and the margin of victory was pretty similar across county races, "Which suggests that there probably were a lot of people who either selected the straight ticket option or went through and decided to mark their ballots for all of the Democrats."

Bennion says the use of straight-ticket voting is a topic of debate.

Supporters say it increases participation in down-ballot races and speeds up the voting process. "Opponents say that we should get rid of straight-ticket voting as an option and make people vote every single race, so that they're thinking more about each individual candidate and issue," Bennion added. "They may take more time to study the issues."

Those who vote straight-ticket also risk accidentally skipping parts of the ballot, like school board races with nonpartisan candidates, public questions and judicial retention. Bennion says it's important that voters look all the way to the bottom of the ballot.