Voter roll-off occurs when voters cast their vote for top-of-the-ballot races while failing to vote for lower-level races. Scholars have examined behavioral and structural reasons for voter roll-off. This article examines one potential structural reason for voter roll-off, the presence or absence of straight-ticket voting, which allows voters to cast a single vote for all members of their preferred political party. In recent years, many states have removed the option of straight-ticket voting, partially to ensure voters carefully consider each race on the ballot. We test whether the removal of straight-ticket voting discourages voter roll-off by encouraging them to cast a vote for each race on the ballot. We find voter roll-off only slightly decreases for all lower-level races and ballot measures when states eliminate straight-ticket voting.
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