Jack Betts says Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians benefited from straight-ticket voting.

After looking at the results of the November election, the Charlotte Observer columnist writes that all three parties drew more straight-ticket ballots than their party representation would suggest.

Democrats represent 46 percent of registered voters, but drew 58.8 percent of straight ticket votes. Republicans represent 32 percent of voters, but drew 40.4 percent of straight ticket votes.  

This is not quite the same as saying that all those straight-party Democratic ballots were cast by Democrats, or that all those Republican straight-party ballots were cast by Republicans. There may have been a number of straight-ticket ballots cast by unaffiliated voters, who make up 22 percent of the state's registered voters. And of course there might have been some crossover straight tickets, too. 

He also notes that the 19,054 Libertarian straight-ticket ballots far outnumbere the 3,683 registered Libertarian voters.

The N.C. Democratic Party spent $1.5 million educating voters about straight-ticket voting.

As noted previously, North Carolina is the only state in the country that does not include the presidential race in the straight-ticket option on the ballot.

With a close race between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain here, the party sent mailers, made automated calls and ran radio and newspaper ads educating voters to make sure to also mark the presidential race.

Obama also made sure to note the distinction when he spoke at rallies.

The effort appears to have paid off, with a much lower percentage of undervotes than usual.

Jack Betts says North Carolina didn't have its own butterfly ballot after all.

Although some political observers had speculated that the fact that the state's straight-ticket voting does not include the presidential race would hurt Barack Obama's chances here, the Charlotte Observer columnist writes that it was not much of a factor:

In 2000 and 2004 a lot of North Carolinians didn't cast ballots in the presidential race — far more than the roughly 1 percent that normally might choose not to vote for any candidate in that race. The falloff those years was up to three times the normal rate. How about Tuesday? The State Board of Elections Web site reports that 4,293,645 ballots were cast overall, but 4,248,285 ballots were case in the presidential race. That's a falloff of 45,360, if my math is right -- .0105644 of a falloff.

Still, Betts say the legislature "ought to fix" the problem.

North Carolina is the only state in the country in which straight-ticket votes do not include the presidential race.

Did straight-ticket voting cost Bill Clinton North Carolina?

An Oct. 25, 2004 story in the Charlotte Observer cited a study that found that enough North Carolinians failed to vote for president in 1992 to potentially sway the vote:

A few thousand lost votes here or there usually don't make a difference in the final outcome of the presidential race in North Carolina: In 2000, for example, George Bush beat Al Gore by 13 percentage points.

But in a close election, confusion could have dramatic results. In 1992, the first President George Bush won North Carolina by a tiny margin, capturing 43.3 percent of the vote, compared with 42.7 percent for Bill Clinton. A Duke University study of ballot design in that election found that about 1 percent of North Carolinians had mistakenly failed to vote for president.

Both parties have reminded their volunteers to make sure potential voters know how to cast ballots for president.

"It may not seem like much, but even 1 percent of the vote can make a difference," said James Hamilton, a Duke University public policy professor and a co-author of the study.

Is North Carolina's straight-ticket voting the new "butterfly ballot"?

An unsigned editorial in The New York Times today argues that the state's unusual practice of forcing straight-ticket voters to vote separately for president may tilt the election here.

Since the 1960s, state Democrats have sought to limit their links to the more liberal national candidate at the top of their ticket by keeping the presidential race separate from the straight-ticket option. 

That worked well for Democrats for years, as state Democrats won election despite the unpopularity of the presidential candidates here. At the same time, it led many first-time voters to fail to vote in the presidential race out of confusion.

With a tight presidential race this year and tens of thousands of new registered voters, the Times' editorial board writes that it could change the outcome.

"Poor ballot design is a burden on all voters," they write. "Less-educated voters and the newly enrolled are even more likely to be confused and to end up not casting a vote for president."

State Democrats are pushing straight-ticket voting.

The state Democratic Party has sent a mailer to North Carolina voters featuring a photo of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama standing next to Senate candidate Kay Hagan and another with gubernatorial candidate Beverly Perdue.

"Barack Obama, Kay Hagan & Bev Perdue for the change we need," it reads.

The mailer includes information on registering at early voting sites and voting a straight-ticket ballot, which in North Carolina requires voting for president separately from the rest of the down-ballot races.

It is highly unusual for state Democrats to tie themselves so closely to the presidential nominee, but Obama is ahead in several recent polls.

The state Democratic Party has sent a mailer encouraging voters to vote a straight-party ticket.

Dome received a copy of the glossy mailer in Durham last week. The document shows a sample ballot with only Democrats names included for partisan races. For state judicial races, the names of the party's picks are circled in red.

"The time is NOW to put strong North Carolina values back to work for the people and make North Carolina the best it can be for our families," the mailer states.

Candidates hoping for some national coattails will have to work a little harder in North Carolina.

Under a state law dating back decades, voters who wish to cash a straight-ticket ballot must cast their vote for president separately.

The law was put into place by state Democrats to protect themselves from state voters' longstanding preference for Republican presidential candidates.

But it can also hurt the presidential candidate, as thousands of voters do not realize they have to do more than mark the straight-ticket option.

Justin Moore, a computer science graduate from Duke University now working for Google, analyzed the state's election results in 2000 and 2004. He found that between 2.5 and 3 percent of ballots did not include a vote for president.

With polls showing a highly competitive race between Barack Obama and John McCain this year, the effect of straight-ticket undervotes could be more significant.

It also has an effect on nonpartisan offices such as mayors and Supreme Court judges.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beverly Perdue has recorded a robocall reminding voters that they have to 1) Vote for president, 2) Decide whether to vote straight-ticket for down-ballot partisan races, and 3) Cast votes for local offices and judges.

State elections directory Gary Bartlett said that voters may mark the straight-ticket option and then crossover to the other party in selected races.