Split Ballot

A split ballot (or "split-ticket voting") occurs when a single voter selects candidates from different parties for different offices on the same ballot — for example, voting for one party's presidential candidate while choosing another party's candidate for the U.S. Senate or a state governorship. It is the opposite of straight-ticket voting, in which a voter backs one party's nominees across every race.

Split-ballot behavior is most commonly studied in systems with simultaneous elections for multiple offices, such as U.S. general elections, where federal, state, and local contests appear on one ballot. It is often interpreted as a sign of weak party identification, candidate-centered voting, or deliberate preference for divided government, where different branches or chambers are controlled by opposing parties.

Several institutional features influence split-ballot rates:

• Ballot design. Jurisdictions that offer a "straight-party" option (a single mark for all of one party's candidates) tend to see less ticket-splitting. Many U.S. states have eliminated this option in recent decades, leaving fewer than ten states offering it as of the early 2020s.
• Concurrent vs. midterm timing. Presidential coattails reduce split voting; off-cycle and midterm elections often increase it.
• Electoral system. Mixed-member proportional systems (e.g., Germany's Bundestag elections) institutionalize a form of split voting by giving each voter two votes — one for a constituency candidate and one for a party list — allowing deliberate strategic splitting.

Political scientists such as Morris Fiorina have argued that some ticket-splitting is intentional — voters seeking policy moderation through divided control — while others, including Gary Jacobson, emphasize that polarization since the 1990s has sharply reduced split-ticket voting in U.S. federal races. The share of U.S. congressional districts won by one party for president and another for the House fell to historic lows in 2016 and 2020, indicating a long-term decline in split-ballot behavior at the federal level.