Straight-Ticket Voting and Split-Ticket Voting: Which States Offer a Straight-Party Option in 2026

By Dr. AtlasPublished Sep 17, 2026

Straight-ticket voting, also called straight-party voting, lets a voter choose a party’s whole slate with one mark. “Voters make one mark or selection on the ballot in order to vote for every candidate of that party for each partisan office on the ballot,” the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) says. ^[1] Split-ticket voting is the opposite choice: Alabama’s election code describes it as voting “for candidates of different parties.” ^[2]

Most states do not offer the one-mark option. NCSL’s list, updated December 9, 2025, names six that do: Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Oklahoma and South Carolina. ^[1] Five are states the Ledger tracks; for each, the Ledger read the state’s law and election-office instructions on September 17, 2026. Indiana dropped the option in 2016 “for at-large races only,” NCSL says. ^[1]

What is straight ticket voting?

State laws describe it in similar terms. In Alabama, a straight party ticket is a vote “for each and every candidate for one party for whatever office nominated.” ^[3] Michigan’s Constitution guarantees “a position at the top of the ballot by which the voter may, by a single selection, record a straight party ticket vote for all the candidates of one (1) party.” ^[4]

It is a general election feature, and it is optional. Kentucky’s statute requires voting systems to allow it “Except at a primary.” ^[5] Oklahoma’s State Election Board adds: “You do not have to be a registered voter of a political party to utilize that party’s ‘straight party’ option.” ^[6] South Carolina’s election commission heads its instructions “Straight Party is Optional.” ^[7]

Which states have straight ticket voting in 2026?

Six, by NCSL’s count: Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Oklahoma and South Carolina. ^[1] The table covers the five the Ledger tracks.

What a straight-party vote does not cover

A party mark reaches only partisan contests. Oklahoma says the option “is not available for nonpartisan races, such as judicial elections,” and that “Propositions or questions on the ballot must be individually marked.” ^[6] Michigan’s ballot wording says the “NONPARTISAN and PROPOSAL SECTIONS of the ballot (if any) must be voted separately.” ^[12] South Carolina warns that “no selection is made for nonpartisan offices and questions.” ^[7]

Nor can it fill a contest the party did not enter: in Oklahoma, “the voting device will leave that race blank” unless the voter picks a candidate. ^[6] Marking more than one party there means the ballot “shall not be counted for any party offices thereon.” ^[13]

What is split ticket voting?

Split-ticket voting means choosing candidates of different parties on one ballot. Alabama law says such a voter may mark the voting space by “the name of each candidate for whom the elector desires to vote on whatever ticket the candidate may be.” ^[2] Michigan’s Constitution says: “The voter may vote a split or mixed ticket.” ^[4] In Michigan’s primaries, by contrast, voters “can only vote in one party column.” ^[15]

South Carolina’s two official texts differ. The statute’s ballot instructions, last amended in 2000, tell a voter who wants a “mixed ticket” to “omit making a cross (X) mark in the party circle at the top.” ^[14] The election commission’s current instructions are newer and say a voter “can override his straight party selection for a particular office.” ^[7]

Write-in candidate rules when you vote straight party

A party mark does not cast a write-in vote. Michigan’s ballot wording tells voters to write the name and “completely darken the voting target area,” adding: “This must be done even if you cast a straight party vote.” ^[12] Other states differ:

• Oklahoma: “Generally speaking, write-in voting is not permitted in Oklahoma,” the State Election Board says, apart from a limited exception for military and overseas voters; by law a name written on a ballot “shall not be counted.” ^[13][16]
• Kentucky: when a voter marks a straight party and also “writes in the name of an eligible write-in candidate in a specific race,” the vote in that race counts for the write-in candidate, regulation 31 KAR 6:030 says. ^[11]
• South Carolina: write-in votes “are NOT allowed in political party primaries or for President and Vice-president,” and a handwritten name also needs the oval beside it darkened. ^[7]
• Alabama: the 2026 sample ballot prints a “Write-in” line under governor, lieutenant governor and U.S. senator. ^[8]

States that ended straight ticket voting

In Texas, House Bill 25 eliminated “straight-party voting effective September 1, 2020,” the Secretary of State’s 2020 advisory says; its prescribed notice reads: “If you wish to vote for all of the candidates affiliated with one party, you should select each candidate one at a time on your ballot.” ^[17] The state’s sample ballot for November 3, 2026 opens with “Vote for the candidate of your choice in each race,” and its first contest is the U.S. Senate race. ^[18]

NCSL’s table of repeals lists other states the Ledger tracks: Pennsylvania (2019, effective in 2020), Iowa (2017), North Carolina (2013, effective 2014), Wisconsin (2011, effective for the November 2012 elections, though NCSL says it “remains available for UOCAVA voters”), New Hampshire (2007), Missouri (2006) and Georgia (1994). ^[1]

Michigan went the other way. NCSL’s summary says the state abolished the option in 2016, a federal court blocked the law for that year’s election, and the ban took effect for the 2018 general election. Voters approved Proposal 3 that November; the amendment took effect December 22, 2018. ^[1][4] “Per the passage of Proposal 18-3 in 2018, Michigan voters also have the option to vote straight-ticket,” the Secretary of State’s office says. ^[15]

What supporters and opponents say

The Texas House Research Organization’s 2017 analysis of House Bill 25 recorded both sides. Supporters said ending the option “would encourage voters to consider more carefully candidates running in elections” and that “one-punch voting also causes voters to miss out on casting votes in nonpartisan races or propositions.” ^[19]

Opponents said “Party labels are an immediate set of boundaries that voters use to make their ballot decisions” and that “Eliminating the one-punch option does not eliminate straight-party voting, it just makes it more cumbersome.” ^[19]

The coattail effect: what the term means

The coattail effect is a popular candidate’s pull on the rest of the party’s ticket. Merriam-Webster defines coattails as “the influence or pulling power of a popular movement or person (such as a political candidate),” as in “congressmen riding into office on the president’s coattails.” ^[20] The term describes how people vote. A straight-party option is a ballot feature, one that state law counts “as a vote for each of the political party’s candidates on that ballot.” ^[13]

Where the choice comes up on November 3, 2026

Alabama’s sample ballot for this midterm election lists governor, lieutenant governor and the U.S. Senate seat as its first three contests. ^[8] Michigan’s official candidate listing includes governor and the U.S. Senate. ^[21] Oklahoma’s list of November elections includes governor and U.S. senator. ^[22] Kentucky’s Madison County ballot leads with the U.S. Senate race. ^[10]

In all four states a voter who marks a party can still choose differently in one contest or skip the mark entirely. ^{[2][5][9][11][12][13]} See the Ledger’s checklist for voting in 2026.

Questions and answers