https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 04 Jun 2026 01:30:04 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/guessing-on-the-ballot#post-2499514 Fri, 18 Mar 2016 11:33:20 +0000 cat620 2499514@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: I could see that being confusing! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/guessing-on-the-ballot#post-2499512 Fri, 18 Mar 2016 11:31:48 +0000 Adira 2499512@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@aprild: Good point, my primary was the same. But I've had other ballots (city elections) that had everyone and didn't specify which party the candidates were. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/guessing-on-the-ballot#post-2499510 Fri, 18 Mar 2016 11:30:10 +0000 cat620 2499510@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: My primary ballot only listed democratic candidates except for the nonpartisan offices like the judges. My husband who is a Republican had a completely different ballot than me. It's not until November that we can vote straight ticket. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/guessing-on-the-ballot#post-2499499 Fri, 18 Mar 2016 11:17:59 +0000 Adira 2499499@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: @sunny: @aprild: The last couple elections I voted in (Primary and city elections) did not specify the party the candidates were for. I found it pretty frustrating because I do tend to vote party-lines when I don't know enough about the candidate. So if I didn't know anything about them, I didn't vote in that section! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/guessing-on-the-ballot#post-2499473 Fri, 18 Mar 2016 11:04:53 +0000 cat620 2499473@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: I'm talking about in the primaries where you have to pick usually from two candidates who you want to represent your political party in the election. Our ballot included positions beyond president, like governor, attorney general, commissioner of labor, treasurer and register of deeds. There were a couple nonpartisan offices too for district court judges. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/guessing-on-the-ballot#post-2499470 Fri, 18 Mar 2016 11:03:18 +0000 sunny 2499470@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Don't the ballots specify which party the candidate favors? I know in the voter guide they have R, D, other, in the candidate bio/statement. I would imagine that uninformed voters would just pick candidates who are of the party they favor. I haven't actually seen the ballots in this district so I don't know for sure. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/guessing-on-the-ballot#post-2499464 Fri, 18 Mar 2016 10:59:59 +0000 Anagram 2499464@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@aprild: I think it's a lot more common that people vote a "straight ticket" without knowing anything about the nominees. Of course, sometimes you have people from the same political party who run against each other--is that when your friend resorted to guessing based on how he/she liked the name? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/guessing-on-the-ballot#post-2499399 Fri, 18 Mar 2016 10:31:51 +0000 cat620 2499399@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have to say this is a pet peeve of mine - when people don't know anything about the people running for a specific government position, so they just pick a name. I know it can be challenging to find the time or energy to educate yourself on every single candidate, but if you know nothing about the people running for a position, I think it's better to simply not vote and skip to the next position. </p> <p>I was talking with an acquaintance of mine who openly said she didn't know anything about anyone other than her presidential pick in the primaries. Instead of skipping, she picked names based on how they sounded to her. One man was a third (ex: John Doe III), and she said the name sounded too pretentious to her, so she didn't vote for him. It's upsetting to me to think that people could be elected based on how their name sounds and not because people actually think they are the better candidate. Has anyone else ran into people who guess on the ballot? </p>