Question

In 1984, many incumbent Democratic judges lost their seats in large urban counties to unknown Republican challengers because of

Answer 1

In 1984, many incumbent Democratic judges lost their seats in large urban counties to unknown Republican challengers because of "straight ticket voting".

Answer: Option a

Explanation:

“Straight-ticket voting” is when voters give all their votes to representative of one political party which is just reverse of “Split-ticket voting” where voters vote for multiple parties in an election. Therefore it is viewed as alternative to straight-ticket voting.

In 1984 election following are the factors which resulted into loss for Democratic judges due to straight-ticket voting :

• Only when the disparity between the straight party vote for the two parties widened was the effect of straight party vote on candidate success considerable.
• The variation between the two parties in direct party voting forces the candidate of the minority party to pursue independent voters aggressively.
• A particularly strong straight-for-party vote in favor of one party can make the difference with independent voters almost impossible for a judicial candidate to make up.
• The body of fully independent voters most open to judicial candidates campaign efforts is quite small.