PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - The Rhode Island House of Representatives on Thursday unanimously approved a bill that would eliminate the option for voters to make one single ballot mark to vote for all candidates on a political party ticket, but the measure’s fate in the Senate remained unclear.
The vote to kill the so-called master lever was 70-0.
Under the legislation, voters would no longer be able to cast a straight-ticket vote with a single ballot mark. Critics of the master lever call it confusing and undemocratic. They say it also encourages ill-prepared voters.
Rhode Island is one of more than a dozen states that still have the master lever.
Previous efforts to abolish it have stalled.
Last month, a state Senate committee heard testimony on its master lever bill but did not vote on it. It wasn’t clear Thursday whether the legislation would be taken up again. Greg Pare, a spokesman for Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed, D-Newport, said she is keeping an open mind about the legislation. No vote has been set.
Under the House bill, the secretary of state’s office would conduct community outreach programs to educate the public about the elimination of the master lever. The legislation was amended in committee so that it would take effect immediately and apply to the November elections.
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