Straight-ticket ballots reach 70% of all Alabama votes; Democrats increase share

More than 70% of Alabama voters cast straight-ticket party ballots on Tuesday, a record that also featured a higher percentage of those votes going to Democrats.

The Secretary of State’s Office published a news release Thursday that said almost 1.2 million of the nearly 1.7 million votes were straight ticket.

Of those, about 645,000, 54%, voted straight-party ticket for Republican candidates. Almost 550,000, about 46%, went to Democrats.

In 2022, about 947,000 of the 1.4 million votes cast that year (66.5%) were straight-ticket. But about 649,000 of those (68.4%) went to Republicans, while just over 298,000 (31.5%) went to Democrats.

As of 2026, Alabama is one of six states to offer straight-ticket voting on the ballot along with Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and South Carolina, according to the Election Lab at MIT.

Messages were sent to Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, and Republican Party Chair Scott Stadthagen Thursday seeking comment.

Critics of straight ticket voting say that it allows more extreme candidates to be elected more easily and does not motivate voters to be more informed about the candidates. Democratic gubernatorial nominee Doug Jones made ending the practice  part of his campaign.

Black Belt counties, most of which lean Democratic, led in use of straight-ticket ballots. Almost 90% of ballots cast in Greene County (3,216 of more than 3,600) went straight ticket, with 87% going to Democrats. In Sumter County, 86% of ballots cast were straight ticket, with 83% of those going to Democrats. Perry County saw 80% of its ballots marked straight ticket, and 85% went to Democrats.

Republican candidates were the ones to benefit in the two other counties.

In Escambia County in south Alabama, more than 7,800 of the 9,800 votes cast (80%) were straight ticket; of those, 64.7% went to Republicans. About 3,600 of the 4,500 votes (80%) cast in Lamar County in northwest Alabama were straight-ticket; over 3,000 of those (84%) went to Republicans.

Etowah County had the lowest percentage of voters who cast a straight-party ticket at 54%. Cherokee County had the second-lowest total at 55%. That is followed by Choctaw and Washington counties, both at 57%. Lee County was at 61%.