knapplc wrote:Yes. Free your mind. Register Independent, too.
I was registered independent but I couldn't vote in local primaries unless I was registered Dem/Rep(something like that), so I switched and registered Dem. It has zero impact on how I vote though.
Democracy at it's finest.
Primaries are an institution of the respective parties, yes?
Art Vandelay wrote:I'm registered independent and have to deal with the same thing that Met described, but I think that's the way it should be. The primaries are for the parties to select who they want to represent them in the election. Why should independents have a say in who the Democrats or Republicans run? Or, as would be the case in most open primary systems, why should Democrats have a say in who the Republican candidate would be?
Agreed. But even as an Independent you have a vote in local elections, bond issues, etc., in the primaries. It's just for party affiliated candidacy votes you don't get to chime in on, and not being a part of this or that party, I don't care.
Definitely. I'm registered independent for a number of reasons, principally that no party is enough in line with my beliefs to warrant becoming a member of that party, and I certainly don't feel like I've missed out on much. The only time I can recall wishing I was able to vote in a primary was the Senatorial race in my state in 2008.
Art Vandelay wrote:I'm registered independent and have to deal with the same thing that Met described, but I think that's the way it should be. The primaries are for the parties to select who they want to represent them in the election. Why should independents have a say in who the Democrats or Republicans run? Or, as would be the case in most open primary systems, why should Democrats have a say in who the Republican candidate would be?
Agreed. But even as an Independent you have a vote in local elections, bond issues, etc., in the primaries. It's just for party affiliated candidacy votes you don't get to chime in on, and not being a part of this or that party, I don't care.
Definitely. I'm registered independent for a number of reasons, principally that no party is enough in line with my beliefs to warrant becoming a member of that party, and I certainly don't feel like I've missed out on much. The only time I can recall wishing I was able to vote in a primary was the Senatorial race in my state in 2008.
The reason you stated is the exact reason why I wish we didn't have to be registered to any party. But for me I'd like to have a say on who I may end up voting for later, and that person may be a Dem or a Rep. Just because I am registered Independent doesn't mean I'm going to vote for a third party candidate all the time, but being registered Indy means I can't help the person I want to vote for make it through the primaries.
JTWood wrote:Primaries are an institution of the respective parties, yes?
Not really. They're like a Semifinal in a tournament as far as elected officials go, but that's only part of what gets voted on. There are bond issues, judges, etc.
knapplc wrote:Agreed. But even as an Independent you have a vote in local elections, bond issues, etc., in the primaries. It's just for party affiliated candidacy votes you don't get to chime in on, and not being a part of this or that party, I don't care.
Definitely. I'm registered independent for a number of reasons, principally that no party is enough in line with my beliefs to warrant becoming a member of that party, and I certainly don't feel like I've missed out on much. The only time I can recall wishing I was able to vote in a primary was the Senatorial race in my state in 2008.
The reason you stated is the exact reason why I wish we didn't have to be registered to any party. But for me I'd like to have a say on who I may end up voting for later, and that person may be a Dem or a Rep. Just because I am registered Independent doesn't mean I'm going to vote for a third party candidate all the time, but being registered Indy means I can't help the person I want to vote for make it through the primaries.
I know my line of thinking sounds silly.
It's not silly, I think most people would like to be able to vote for whoever they wanted regardless of affiliation, but it may be a little impractical. It sounds like you're essentially advocating instand run-off voting, which seems good enough on paper, but can become kind of chaotic in practice. Remember the recall of Gray Davis? Anyone with 500 signatures and the $50 filing fee (or whatever the requirements were) got on the ballot. If we didn't have parties and primaries, every election would be the circus that the California recall election was.
Art Vandelay wrote:Definitely. I'm registered independent for a number of reasons, principally that no party is enough in line with my beliefs to warrant becoming a member of that party, and I certainly don't feel like I've missed out on much. The only time I can recall wishing I was able to vote in a primary was the Senatorial race in my state in 2008.
The reason you stated is the exact reason why I wish we didn't have to be registered to any party. But for me I'd like to have a say on who I may end up voting for later, and that person may be a Dem or a Rep. Just because I am registered Independent doesn't mean I'm going to vote for a third party candidate all the time, but being registered Indy means I can't help the person I want to vote for make it through the primaries.
I know my line of thinking sounds silly.
It's not silly, I think most people would like to be able to vote for whoever they wanted regardless of affiliation, but it may be a little impractical. It sounds like you're essentially advocating instand run-off voting, which seems good enough on paper, but can become kind of chaotic in practice. Remember the recall of Gray Davis? Anyone with 500 signatures and the $50 filing fee (or whatever the requirements were) got on the ballot. If we didn't have parties and primaries, every election would be the circus that the California recall election was.
Yeah I get that. But does it really matter what party I'm affiliated to? Or that I'm registered one way or another? Have candidates party affiliated but not voters?
Metroid wrote:Have candidates party affiliated but not voters?
I actually may not mind that, but then we're right back to whether or not the party and its members should have control over who the candidate is. In a perfect world, your idea would be a fine solution, unfortunately, we live in a world where a vote-for-the-worst campaign would definitely be waged by the opposition. That already happened in 2008 in states with open primaries. Was it Rush Limbaugh who was getting his supporters to vote for Hillary instead of voting for a Republican candidate because he wanted to keep the Democratic side of the ticket in turmoil? It sucks that we're not always able to vote in the primary for the candidate we want to vote for in the general election, but I think the protections that the primary system provides are more important.
Metroid wrote:Have candidates party affiliated but not voters?
I actually may not mind that, but then we're right back to whether or not the party and its members should have control over who the candidate is. In a perfect world, your idea would be a fine solution, unfortunately, we live in a world where a vote-for-the-worst campaign would definitely be waged by the opposition. That already happened in 2008 in states with open primaries. Was it Rush Limbaugh who was getting his supporters to vote for Hillary instead of voting for a Republican candidate because he wanted to keep the Democratic side of the ticket in turmoil? It sucks that we're not always able to vote in the primary for the candidate we want to vote for in the general election, but I think the protections that the primary system provides are more important.
Yeah that makes sense...well I'll just that registered in a major party so I can vote for whoever and whatever I want.
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