Split-ticket voting is a practice where a voter in an election votes for candidates from different political parties when multiple offices are being decided by a single election, as opposed to straight-ticket voting, where a voter chooses candidates from the same party. This type of voting occurs in elections in which more than one office is up for election. For example, a voter may choose to elect the Democratic Partys candidate for the Senate, the Republican Partys candidate for House of Representatives, the Green Partys candidate for County Supervisor, and the Libertarian Partys candidate for Coroner.
Split-ticket voting may also occur in elections where multiple voting systems are employed. For instance, a voter may select a candidate from a minority party for seats allocated by a proportional representation election system and select a candidate from a larger party for a seat decided by a first-past-the-post system.
Although less common, split-ticket voting can potentially be used as a form of tactical voting. For example, a voter who prefers candidate A but does not believe that candidate A can win the election may vote for candidate B (who may be of a different political party from candidate A) because candidate B is better than other more competitive candidates C, D, etc. .
Split-ticket voting is different from split-ticket preferencing, often referred to as a "split ticket." In the latter, the candidate for political office (or the party they are standing for) will issue.
Split-ticket voting has been observed in various countries, including the United States and Australia. In the United States, split-ticket voting has become less common in recent years, but it still plays an important role in some elections.
