As America grows more bitterly partisan, fewer voters split their ballots

As Americans vote, it’s worth recalling how profoundly Americans have divided along party lines and allegiances.

You could read this lengthy analysis of America’s growing and increasingly angry political rift by The Times of Israel’s senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur.

Or you could consider this simple comparison, reported by Politico this week:

In the 1972 Nixon-McGovern race, fully 44% of the 435 Congressional districts nationwide voted for one party’s candidate for president, but chose the other party’s candidate for their member of Congress.

That reflected in part McGovern’s low popularity. But it also showed that party identification mattered less than policy or personality.

By 2012, that figure had dropped to less than 10% of Congressional districts. Fewer Americans now split their ballots across party lines.