The Presidential Short Ballot

In: American political science review, Volume 34, Issue 5, p. 955-959

Abstract

The term "presidential short ballot" is applied to the ballot form in which the names of candidates for presidential electors are omitted and only the names of the candidates for president or for president and vice-president appear. The vote for the party presidential candidates on the ticket is a vote for the party electors whose names are filed with the secretary of state. The voter may feel that he is voting directly for the presidential and vice-presidential candidates; actually, he is voting for the electoral candidates of the party represented by his favored candidate for the presidency.This shortened ballot form is the result of three developments: (1) provision for a group vote for the electoral candidates of each party; (2) the addition at the head of the ticket of the names of the presidential candidates, whether the electoral candidates are voted on as individuals or as a group; and (3) introduction of the voting machine. Each of these developments started near the turn of the century.