Kentucky is just one of eight states that still allows straight-ticket voting.
Texas just passed a law getting rid of it in 2020, which will make us one of 7 states left and given in just about 2 weeks the general elections will be here and that it’s a non – presidential and non–governor election year, the turn-out is predicted to be low.
Estimations of 10–14% of registered eligible voters are expected to show up at the polls and there are some very important races on the ballot that people need to know about and take interest in.
Jesse Brewer
In my home county, Boone County, we have several state representative races (that are contested, meaning more than one person running for them) that are partisan, meaning you can select either a Republican, Democrat, Libertarian or Independent. We also have a county clerk race and a congressional that are partisan, but in addition to the partisan races we also have a few non-partisan races that are very important, such as a municipal judge, the new family judge seat and if you live in Florence, Union or Walton you have Mayor and city council races.
Non-partisan races mean the candidate on the ballot is not affiliated with any political party, the candidate is just listed on the ballot.
Now these people are registered as some sort of political affiliation, but it is not by their name on the ballot for you the voter to know, and if you are like a lot of other Kentucky voters, there is a high probability that you will vote straight ticket for either political party, and if you do that you do not cast a vote in any of these important non-partisan races.
Why are all these other races important you may ask?
Well if you live in one of the cities the council and Mayor vote on ordinances that affect your taxes that you pay. Ever been divorced or have a loved one that went through a divorce? Well, the family judge is the one that presides over custodial matters as well as other family-critical family-related issues.
The municipal judge presides over criminal matters, traffic tickets as well as well as a lot of other important issues and the reason I’m laying all this out for you is to make you aware of what’s on the ballot, and if you decide to punch straight party ticket, for either party, then you do not cast a vote in these important non-partisan races.
So when you head to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 6th, I ask that you stop, take a moment, and cast an individual vote in each race as in this low turnout of an election each vote truly does matter.
Jesse Brewer is Boone County Commissioner-elect.
