FACT BRIEF

Is split-ticket voting common in the US?

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

By Miriam Himelstein

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Split-ticket voting—backing candidates from different parties in the same election—is increasingly rare.

In 2012, only 6% of voters in House districts voted for presidential and congressional candidates belonging to different parties. In 2018, split-ticket voting hit a low in Senate and gubernatorial races. In 2020 pre-election polling, only 4% of registered voters in states with Senate contests indicated an intention to back opposing parties in the presidential and Senate races.

But split-ticket voting can still hold sway. In 2020, 52.9% of voters in Maine voted for Democrat Joe Biden for president, while 51.1% voted to reelect Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Split-ticket voting can be influenced by incumbency or a candidate's degree of popularity (or unpopularity).

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Pew Research Center: Split-ticket districts, once common, are now rare

Washington Post: The decline and fall of split-ticket voting, visualized

FiveThirtyEight: Split-ticket voting hit a new low in 2018 Senate and governor races

Pew Research Center: Large shares of voters plan to vote a straight party ticket for president, Senate and House

Politico: Maine 2020 election results

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