Presenter(s)
Venushi K. Haththalla
Abstract
Split-ticket voting has traditionally been examined through the lenses of institutional incentives, strategic preferences for divided government, and candidate-centered evaluations. This study investigates the role of partisan indifference and contradictory political ideas in shaping split-ticket voting across offices in contemporary U.S. elections. Building on scholarship that distinguishes strong partisan attachment from weak, ambivalent, or indifferent orientations, the analysis argues that voters who lack meaningful affective ties to either major party are less constrained by partisan loyalty and therefore more likely to divide their electoral support between Democratic and Republican candidates. Using individual-level survey data from the American National Election Studies (ANES), the study tests whether partisan-indifferent voters exhibit a higher propensity to cast split tickets compared to strong partisans. In addition, it examines whether a specific age group and holding contradictory or cross-pressured policy attitudes further increases the likelihood of cross-party voting. The findings demonstrate that partisan indifference significantly predicts split-ticket behavior, even in an era of heightened polarization, and that attitudinal inconsistency amplifies this effect. By centering partisan indifference as a psychological mechanism, this research contributes to a more nuanced understanding of electoral behavior and clarifies how weak partisan attachments and contradictory political beliefs interact to produce split-ticket voting across offices.
College
College of Liberal Arts
Department
Political Science & Public Administration
Campus
Winona
First Advisor/Mentor
Elissa Alzate
Location
Kryzsko Great River Ballroom, Winona, Minnesota; United States
Start Date
4-23-2026 9:00 AM
End Date
4-23-2026 10:00 AM
Presentation Type
Poster Session
Format of Presentation or Performance
In-Person
Session
1a=9am-10am
Poster Number
33
The Role of Partisan Indifference and Contradictory Ideas in Split-Ticket Voting Across Offices
Kryzsko Great River Ballroom, Winona, Minnesota; United States
Split-ticket voting has traditionally been examined through the lenses of institutional incentives, strategic preferences for divided government, and candidate-centered evaluations. This study investigates the role of partisan indifference and contradictory political ideas in shaping split-ticket voting across offices in contemporary U.S. elections. Building on scholarship that distinguishes strong partisan attachment from weak, ambivalent, or indifferent orientations, the analysis argues that voters who lack meaningful affective ties to either major party are less constrained by partisan loyalty and therefore more likely to divide their electoral support between Democratic and Republican candidates. Using individual-level survey data from the American National Election Studies (ANES), the study tests whether partisan-indifferent voters exhibit a higher propensity to cast split tickets compared to strong partisans. In addition, it examines whether a specific age group and holding contradictory or cross-pressured policy attitudes further increases the likelihood of cross-party voting. The findings demonstrate that partisan indifference significantly predicts split-ticket behavior, even in an era of heightened polarization, and that attitudinal inconsistency amplifies this effect. By centering partisan indifference as a psychological mechanism, this research contributes to a more nuanced understanding of electoral behavior and clarifies how weak partisan attachments and contradictory political beliefs interact to produce split-ticket voting across offices.
Comments
Haththalla, Venushi K