The Case For Closed Primaries

[DaGoose]

As the state of Michigan prepares for Tuesday's presidential primary, questions remain about whether Democrats could skew the results via crossover voting. The state of Michigan has no party registration requirement, so any registered voter can participate in Tuesday's Republican presidential primary, including Democrats and independents.

Crossover voter threat in Michigan? Officials say they

This is plain wrong.

In Illinois if a person was to go in ask for a GOP ballot he or she would automatically be registered in the GOP party for the next two years.

 

[Inthemiddle]

Eh, I don't know that it's wrong. It's rather silly, but if that's the way that Michigan wants to do their primaries, that's their business.

 

[AVG-JOE]

Florida has closed primaries.

As a consequence, this year I'm a republican. Scary, isn't it?

 

[konradv]

It sems like an invitation for the party without a contested primary to screw with the other party. That's why I don't like them.

 

[Avatar4321]

Ive opposed the open primary concept since 08. I think it's absolutely stupid that we let people who aren't in our party determine who our party is going to nominate.

 

[AVG-JOE]

For me it's a question of participation. I don't want to sit on the sidelines, so I vote in the most exciting primary, assuming I can figure out which one is going to be titillating by the close of registration.

 

[Vast LWC]

Yeah, I'm in agreement.

Of course, I also made this point when Republicans were messing with the Democratic primaries in 2008...

You know, when Rush Limbaugh literally asked people straight out to go vote for Hillary Clinton?

 

[DaGoose]

Yeah, I'm in agreement.

Of course, I also made this point when Republicans were messing with the Democratic primaries in 2008...

You know, when Rush Limbaugh literally asked people straight out to go vote for Hillary Clinton?

It's wrong no matter which party does it.

 

[Vast LWC]

Yeah, I'm in agreement.

Of course, I also made this point when Republicans were messing with the Democratic primaries in 2008...

You know, when Rush Limbaugh literally asked people straight out to go vote for Hillary Clinton?

It's wrong no matter which party does it.

That's the truth.

If I see anyone in my party doing it, I will be calling them assholes.

 

[Full-Auto]

As the state of Michigan prepares for Tuesday's presidential primary, questions remain about whether Democrats could skew the results via crossover voting. The state of Michigan has no party registration requirement, so any registered voter can participate in Tuesday's Republican presidential primary, including Democrats and independents.

Crossover voter threat in Michigan? Officials say they

This is plain wrong.

In Illinois if a person was to go in ask for a GOP ballot he or she would automatically be registered in the GOP party for the next two years.

What would registration matter? You are not bound to vote that way.

 

[DaGoose]

As the state of Michigan prepares for Tuesday's presidential primary, questions remain about whether Democrats could skew the results via crossover voting. The state of Michigan has no party registration requirement, so any registered voter can participate in Tuesday's Republican presidential primary, including Democrats and independents.

Crossover voter threat in Michigan? Officials say they

This is plain wrong.

In Illinois if a person was to go in ask for a GOP ballot he or she would automatically be registered in the GOP party for the next two years.

What would registration matter? You are not bound to vote that way.

What I meant was that he or she would be automatically counted in the ranks of whatever party they asked for a ballot. By doing that they are a declared member of that party for the next two years.

 

[AVG-JOE]

For me it's a question of participation. I don't want to sit on the sidelines, so I vote in the most exciting primary, assuming I can figure out which one is going to be titillating by the close of registration.

P.S. - In case anyone was wondering... my reason for voting in the republican primary when I clearly don't identify with the parties ideology is that I want what little say I still have in who gets to sit in the Big Chair. In Florida, registered Independents can't vote at all in primaries.

Besides, other than the hope predictably dashed instead of never raised in the first place, I still don't see much difference between R's & D's, so if an R is going to replace the current tool, I wanted it to be Newt because I do believe that both Romney and Santorum would put their religions ahead of the American People at large if push ever came to shove, and it will.



"Political parties were never meant to have this much influence over elections."

-Average Independent Voter​

 

[JoeB131]

As the state of Michigan prepares for Tuesday's presidential primary, questions remain about whether Democrats could skew the results via crossover voting. The state of Michigan has no party registration requirement, so any registered voter can participate in Tuesday's Republican presidential primary, including Democrats and independents.

Crossover voter threat in Michigan? Officials say they

This is plain wrong.

In Illinois if a person was to go in ask for a GOP ballot he or she would automatically be registered in the GOP party for the next two years.

Ummm. not really. I live in Illinois. I usually pull a GOP ballot, except in 1992, where I pulled a Democratic one. (becasue there was no race in the GOP in either the Presidency or Senate Races that year, and my Democratic Congressman helped me out).

They don't record, you can pull whatever ballot you want for the primary. the problem is, you can't vote across lines for different offices. So I'd like to vote in the Democratic primary for Congressperson, (because the GOP won't have a candidate who can win re-election) but I'm probalby stuck drawing a GOP ballot if the presidential race is still going on or I want to vote against Romney out of spite.

 

[Mac1958]

Yeah, I'm in agreement.

Of course, I also made this point when Republicans were messing with the Democratic primaries in 2008...

You know, when Rush Limbaugh literally asked people straight out to go vote for Hillary Clinton?

Boy, that was a brilliant move. Jumped up and bit him square on the ass. Too funny.

.

 

[JoeB131]

Ive opposed the open primary concept since 08. I think it's absolutely stupid that we let people who aren't in our party determine who our party is going to nominate.

I think that if you want to draw people away from the other party, you should be able to draw people from the other party.

Remember, the whole argument for Romney has been that he can appeal to Democrats and Independents.

Except not really. He's getting less votes than he did in 2008.

Now, if Santorum pulls off a win here with the help of trouble making Democrats, I don't see how that does him a lot of good.

This is exactly what McCain did in 2000, where the Democrats all got behind him in a "Spank Engler" movement to make the then Governor who supported G.W.Bush look bad. And he won Arizona on the same day.

BUt McCain didn't win another contest after that, and the GOP decidedly turned against him. It took him years to rebuild his reputation, and some would argue he never did.

 

[DaGoose]

As the state of Michigan prepares for Tuesday's presidential primary, questions remain about whether Democrats could skew the results via crossover voting. The state of Michigan has no party registration requirement, so any registered voter can participate in Tuesday's Republican presidential primary, including Democrats and independents.

Crossover voter threat in Michigan? Officials say they

This is plain wrong.

In Illinois if a person was to go in ask for a GOP ballot he or she would automatically be registered in the GOP party for the next two years.

Ummm. not really. I live in Illinois. I usually pull a GOP ballot, except in 1992, where I pulled a Democratic one. (becasue there was no race in the GOP in either the Presidency or Senate Races that year, and my Democratic Congressman helped me out).

They don't record, you can pull whatever ballot you want for the primary. the problem is, you can't vote across lines for different offices. So I'd like to vote in the Democratic primary for Congressperson, (because the GOP won't have a candidate who can win re-election) but I'm probalby stuck drawing a GOP ballot if the presidential race is still going on or I want to vote against Romney out of spite.

Ummm.....yes, really. I used to be a Precinct Committeeman and registered people to vote. Had you gone down to the County Clerk's office in 93 and asked for a list of registered voters (it's a matter of public record) you would have seen a "D" by your name.

Yes, you can pull whatever ballot you want but they DO record what party you request. And your name would be affiliated with that party until you asked for the opposite party ballot in another primary.

Don't take my word for it. Call your County Clerk's office. Or better yet, ask for a list of registered voters in your precinct. You can see which party your neighbors pulled for in the last primary.

 

[JoeB131]

Crossover voter threat in Michigan? Officials say they

This is plain wrong.

In Illinois if a person was to go in ask for a GOP ballot he or she would automatically be registered in the GOP party for the next two years.

Ummm. not really. I live in Illinois. I usually pull a GOP ballot, except in 1992, where I pulled a Democratic one. (becasue there was no race in the GOP in either the Presidency or Senate Races that year, and my Democratic Congressman helped me out).

They don't record, you can pull whatever ballot you want for the primary. the problem is, you can't vote across lines for different offices. So I'd like to vote in the Democratic primary for Congressperson, (because the GOP won't have a candidate who can win re-election) but I'm probalby stuck drawing a GOP ballot if the presidential race is still going on or I want to vote against Romney out of spite.

Ummm.....yes, really. I used to be a Precinct Committeeman and registered people to vote. Had you gone down to the County Clerk's office in 93 and asked for a list of registered voters (it's a matter of public record) you would have seen a "D" by your name.

Yes, you can pull whatever ballot you want but they DO record what party you request. And your name would be affiliated with that party until you asked for the opposite party ballot in another primary.

Don't take my word for it. Call your County Clerk's office. Or better yet, ask for a list of registered voters in your precinct. You can see which party your neighbors pulled for in the last primary.

Oh my God, you mean there was a D by name once somewhere. Oh, sweet lordy! It's like a scarlet letter.

Besides the fact I kind of doubt this, so what?

I'd be kind of worried if the country clerks office gave away that information to anyone who asks for it.

 

[Seawytch]

The whole point of a Primary is for the parties to choose their candidate for the General. Open primaries defeat that purpose.

California voted itself open Primaries (rules that do NOT apply to President, only to the rest of the offices) and I can't wait until the first General election rolls around with two people from the same party on the November ballot.

I do believe Californians will regret having passed the Open Primary law.

With the Presidential, you must still be registered with the party to vote for President. "Independent" or unaffiliated voters have the choice of voting for either the Democratic Party candidate or the American Independent Party candidate. All other parties shut them out and I still don't get where that makes sense for the Republicans, but their party, their choice I guess.

 

[Seawytch]

Ummm. not really. I live in Illinois. I usually pull a GOP ballot, except in 1992, where I pulled a Democratic one. (becasue there was no race in the GOP in either the Presidency or Senate Races that year, and my Democratic Congressman helped me out).

They don't record, you can pull whatever ballot you want for the primary. the problem is, you can't vote across lines for different offices. So I'd like to vote in the Democratic primary for Congressperson, (because the GOP won't have a candidate who can win re-election) but I'm probalby stuck drawing a GOP ballot if the presidential race is still going on or I want to vote against Romney out of spite.

Ummm.....yes, really. I used to be a Precinct Committeeman and registered people to vote. Had you gone down to the County Clerk's office in 93 and asked for a list of registered voters (it's a matter of public record) you would have seen a "D" by your name.

Yes, you can pull whatever ballot you want but they DO record what party you request. And your name would be affiliated with that party until you asked for the opposite party ballot in another primary.

Don't take my word for it. Call your County Clerk's office. Or better yet, ask for a list of registered voters in your precinct. You can see which party your neighbors pulled for in the last primary.

Oh my God, you mean there was a D by name once somewhere. Oh, sweet lordy! It's like a scarlet letter.

Besides the fact I kind of doubt this, so what?

I'd be kind of worried if the country clerks office gave away that information to anyone who asks for it.

The information I can give out on a voter is name, city, birthdate, how registered and voting history.

Voter lists can be purchased for political, scholarly or journalistic reasons that give detailed information on each voter.

 

[JoeB131]

Ummm.....yes, really. I used to be a Precinct Committeeman and registered people to vote. Had you gone down to the County Clerk's office in 93 and asked for a list of registered voters (it's a matter of public record) you would have seen a "D" by your name.

Yes, you can pull whatever ballot you want but they DO record what party you request. And your name would be affiliated with that party until you asked for the opposite party ballot in another primary.

Don't take my word for it. Call your County Clerk's office. Or better yet, ask for a list of registered voters in your precinct. You can see which party your neighbors pulled for in the last primary.

Oh my God, you mean there was a D by name once somewhere. Oh, sweet lordy! It's like a scarlet letter.

Besides the fact I kind of doubt this, so what?

I'd be kind of worried if the country clerks office gave away that information to anyone who asks for it.

The information I can give out on a voter is name, city, birthdate, how registered and voting history.

Voter lists can be purchased for political, scholarly or journalistic reasons that give detailed information on each voter.

And you wonder why people don't vote?

That's pretty much an invitation to commit identity theft.