The Split Ticket Voter
Alternative Title
Abstract
In the last decade the concept of polarization and its varying effects on the American voter have been a particularly hot button issue amongst the political science research community. It seems that no longer are there a vast majority of people willing to vote by candidate quality, opting instead for party loyalty. Come election day, it used to be extremely common for the average American voter to walk into their respective polling booth and split their ticket relatively equally between Republicans and Democrats for various different positions at varying levels of power. However, this is simply no longer the case. This bloc of voters is nowhere near the size it used to be and even harder to understand than before. The most obvious answer – that a split ticket voter is just an independent, is simply false. Research has proven that while independents these days may still switch from party to party between elections, they are not doing so on the same ballot in one singular calendar year. So who are these voters? That is the crux of this research project. In the few instances of mass split ticket voting in the last decade, what are the various contributing factors and circumstances that cause a voter to split their ticket? While the research is in progress, it’s expected to be a bit complicated. However, the number one factor is certainly going to be scandal. In some elections, allegations against a certain candidate may prove far too consequential to ignore for a voter and cause them to perhaps choose one party everywhere else, but opt instead for the opposite in one specific race. Albeit these days the power of a scandal probably watered down, some still break through and prove to be monumental enough to move the needle.