Measure advances adding 'party' after name on ballot

Personal Choice is a political party, too. And state lawmakers want to make that perfectly clear in the next election.

The House Government Operations Committee approved HB71 Tuesday. The bill would require that the word "party" be included after a political party's name on the straight ticket portion of a ballot.

During the 2006 general election, the Personal Choice Party received more than 10 percent of the vote statewide — and over 20 percent in some counties — even though none of their candidates received nearly that percentage of votes. Anecdotal evidence, at least, suggested that many voters confused the party with the option to cast ballots without selecting a party.