Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Should voter registration workers be allowed to ask if you want to change parties to vote in a primary?

I found out today that California seems to have a different understanding of the word %26quot;independent%26quot; than virtually everyone else in the United States because, when I was asked what my political affiliation was waaaaay back when I first moved to this state, I said %26quot;independent%26quot; meaning %26quot;I do not belong to a political party%26quot;.



They registered me as a member of the America's Independent Party, which is comprised mostly of the type of people I wouldn't piss on to put out if they were on fire (it's one of those %26quot;almighty Gawd made all this only for the people we like and he gave us this gun to shove our opinion down everyone else's throats with%26quot; sort of party that really makes the Tea Party look like they're campaigning on a platform of orgiastic communist buttsex and free bong-hits for all).



Upon discovering this by virtue of the fact I just received my first ever America's Independent Party ballot instead of the usual general ballot, I went to the registration office and immediately re-registered to remove that party affiliation.



While doing so, the registration clerk asked me if I wouldn't like to %26quot;switch over%26quot; political parties long enough to vote in one of the party primaries and then change back to my actual political affiliation after the vote was over... which struck me as being more than a little politically dishonest, and frankly offensive, as if I'm the kind of person who would say %26quot;yes, I'd like to become a Republican long enough to cast a vote for the candidate I think would be least likely to win the election.%26quot;



No offense, but how craven do you have to be to engage politics in that manner? If you can't justify your position using more honest tactics than that, you've got a pretty good indication you're on the wrong side of the issue.



Privately, of course, you kind of have to rely on everyone's honor for them not to do that, but publicly, should the people who register voters be allowed to encourage such voter tactics, or should there be rules in place against them essentially encouraging voters to game the system?Should voter registration workers be allowed to ask if you want to change parties to vote in a primary?I went to register as an Independent for the 2008 primary but there was only the California Independent which is not affiliated with the national Independent party. I did not vote at all because I would have to switch to Republican party in order to vote for Ron Paul. You can switch from one party to the other and back again but I didnt want to do that. So I was registered as %26quot;unaffiliated%26quot;. Now I learn I am called a NP (non partisan).



Then a card came in the mail that asking me if I wanted to vote for Republican or Democratic candidates in June as an NP. Because we don't have an open primary, I had to choose one or the other, or not vote. In 2008 Republicans allowed unaffiliated voters to vote for them, but the Democrats did not.



The way it works in California is you are forced to vote as a Republican or Democrat because they don't want an Independent party. If you want to change that situation, vote Yes on Prop 14 for open primaries. The only catch is that the candidates don't have to reveal their own party.Should voter registration workers be allowed to ask if you want to change parties to vote in a primary?YES ! ! Cant stand Droopy Dog.

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Should voter registration workers be allowed to ask if you want to change parties to vote in a primary?They are not allowed to ask you to switch to A PARTY per se but can ask if you want to vote one way or another?

I agree with you that a form should be of both parties and all candidates as you should be able to chose your candidate regardless of affiliation as a RIGHT TO CHOOSE WHOM YOU LIKE.

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