I've read about people thinking they voted for Obama because they voted Straight Party > Democratic. My husband and I are voting by Absentee Ballot. We looked at the ballot we received by mail and thought the wording was very confusing.
Here's a portion of the ballot:
There are five instructions for Straight Party Voting, "a" through "e".
Here's how it begins:
a. A Straight Party vote is a vote for all candidates of that party in partisan offices. Individual partisan office selections are not necessary if you select a Straight Party below.
...followed by some rules that start getting wordy... yadda yadda ... followed by something really important:
e. A Straight Party vote does not vote for US President and Vice President, unaffiliated candidates, or nonpartisan offices, issues or referenda.
Huh?! The fact that a Straight Party vote doesn't include President is kind of important, not to mention a direct contradiction of the second sentence of the first rule: Individual partisan office selections are not necessary if you select a Straight Party below.
I don't think Straight Party Voting is such a great idea, given the confusion and potential for lost votes. For the time being, I recommend that polling places post HUGE signs that read:
A Straight Party vote does not include President and Vice President. You must vote separately for President if you vote a Straight Party vote.