Split ballots to ease voter race concerns

The US states of West Virginia and Kentucky have come up with a unique proposal for addressing the dilemma of a Barack Obama candidacy – split ballots. The proposed ballots will enable racist voters to vote for Obama’s white half, without having to vote for his black half.

Senator Obama, whose mother is white and father is black, could thus make inroads into otherwise hostile electoral territory. However, a vote solely for Obama’s white half will only count as a half-vote in the November presidential election – something that could undermine Obama’s chances in key states. Despite the potential pitfalls of the proposal, a number of states, including Pennsylvania have expressed interest in the idea.