ronin
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I see.
Super Tuesday Poll
- Thread starter donheff
- Start date
cute fuzzy bunny
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I would have had to request the democrat ballot by Jan 22. I'd actually decided a little later than that to vote for a republican candidate, but they seem to not want my vote. Which seems like a ridiculous decision...
"The decision was controversial, said Hector Barajas, a spokesman for the state party. In a July advisory vote, California Republican party leaders voted 10-8 not to allow independents to cast ballots in their primary.
"We are allocating delegates to our national convention, so the decision should be made by members of the party," said Barajas, summing up one side of the debate. On the other side, he said, some state party officials argued that opening the primary would bring new faces to the table and expand the party's influence.
Keeping the primary exclusive encourages those thinking about registering Republican to go ahead and do it, said Tom Hudson, chairman of the Placer County Republican Party. "This is one of our strongest incentives," he said.
Also, Hudson said, unaffiliated voters outnumber Republicans in several parts of the state. "It's a Republican primary, but the decline-to-state would determine the outcome (in those areas)," Hudson said."
Politics - 'Decline-to-state' voters add Golden State intrigue - sacbee.com
"Another new trend -- California's increasing numbers of "decline to state" voters -- also complicated the election process this year. One out of every five California voters is now officially registered as "decline to state."
Many of these independents were confused Tuesday when told they were not permitted to vote for Republican presidential candidates in the California primary, even though they could request a Democratic or American Independent ballot.
Adding to the confusion was the fact that individual counties around the state treated independents differently Tuesday. In Yolo and El Dorado counties, for example, poll workers offered decline-to-state voters a choice of the non-partisan, Democratic or American Independent ballots. But in Sacramento County, independent voters wanting a party ballot had to ask.
Henry Osborne, 55, said he voted at La Sierra Community Center in Sacramento County and presented his nonpartisan sample ballot. He was handed a non-partisan ballot that did not list any presidential candidates.
After he filled out his ballot with votes for the propositions, he slipped it in the ballot box, and then he asked why he hadn't been given the option of a different ballot.
Poll workers told him he had to ask in advance -- per county policy, he said.
Osborne said he had planned to vote Democratic and now couldn't."
Huge turnout leads to long lines, some ballot shortages - sacbee.com
"The decision was controversial, said Hector Barajas, a spokesman for the state party. In a July advisory vote, California Republican party leaders voted 10-8 not to allow independents to cast ballots in their primary.
"We are allocating delegates to our national convention, so the decision should be made by members of the party," said Barajas, summing up one side of the debate. On the other side, he said, some state party officials argued that opening the primary would bring new faces to the table and expand the party's influence.
Keeping the primary exclusive encourages those thinking about registering Republican to go ahead and do it, said Tom Hudson, chairman of the Placer County Republican Party. "This is one of our strongest incentives," he said.
Also, Hudson said, unaffiliated voters outnumber Republicans in several parts of the state. "It's a Republican primary, but the decline-to-state would determine the outcome (in those areas)," Hudson said."
Politics - 'Decline-to-state' voters add Golden State intrigue - sacbee.com
"Another new trend -- California's increasing numbers of "decline to state" voters -- also complicated the election process this year. One out of every five California voters is now officially registered as "decline to state."
Many of these independents were confused Tuesday when told they were not permitted to vote for Republican presidential candidates in the California primary, even though they could request a Democratic or American Independent ballot.
Adding to the confusion was the fact that individual counties around the state treated independents differently Tuesday. In Yolo and El Dorado counties, for example, poll workers offered decline-to-state voters a choice of the non-partisan, Democratic or American Independent ballots. But in Sacramento County, independent voters wanting a party ballot had to ask.
Henry Osborne, 55, said he voted at La Sierra Community Center in Sacramento County and presented his nonpartisan sample ballot. He was handed a non-partisan ballot that did not list any presidential candidates.
After he filled out his ballot with votes for the propositions, he slipped it in the ballot box, and then he asked why he hadn't been given the option of a different ballot.
Poll workers told him he had to ask in advance -- per county policy, he said.
Osborne said he had planned to vote Democratic and now couldn't."
Huge turnout leads to long lines, some ballot shortages - sacbee.com
ronin
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
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According to the LA Times some poll workers didn't know the rules and refused to hand out Democratic ballots to decline-to-staters when requested. Also, there was a bubble on the Democratic ballot above the slate of candidates that had to be inked that indicated you were voting on the Democratic ballot. Lots of people failed to ink it and their votes for the candidates are technically invalid. I saw it and inked it but didn't understand why I would need to indicated I was voting on a Democratic ballot when that is what I was given to vote on. The article said that officials were now going to go back and try to infer peoples' intentions in order to count the votes. Madness. How hard is it to figure if you voted on a Democratic ballot that you intended to vote on a Democratic ballot? I don't get it.
TromboneAl
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Here's how I understand these things: Just picture that the people you see on Jaywalking are the ones who design the ballots.
I don't remember that extra bubble. Anybody got an image of the ballot?
cute fuzzy bunny
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I agree that most of the time stupidity is a better explanation than malice, but in this case I'm not sure.
Clearly in this case the republicans dont want the non-true-red party holders to have any sway in their election process, and while the democrats will let middle-of-the-roaders play, they want to preserve the option to decide whether and how many of their votes might actually get to count.
Not surprisingly, I couldnt find an image online of the ballot.
Clearly in this case the republicans dont want the non-true-red party holders to have any sway in their election process, and while the democrats will let middle-of-the-roaders play, they want to preserve the option to decide whether and how many of their votes might actually get to count.
Not surprisingly, I couldnt find an image online of the ballot.
ronin
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
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It was on the sample ballot as well if anyone has that thing lining the bird cage.
Hey, the Florida voters above are the whole reason that the Electoral College was written into the Constitution. Voting is too important to a democratic republic to be left to its citizens.
I've been having a heckuva time explaining the Hawaii primary process to our 10th-grader. I haven't seen any ballots showing up in our mailbox, either...
