Currently the following states have closed primaries to independent voters:
Closed Primary States & Number of Independents
Connecticut – 933,279
Delaware - 143,152
Florida - 2,572,901
Kentucky - 167,477
Maine - 361,797*
Nebraska - 228,583*
Nevada - 476,238
New Jersey - 2,585,287*
New Mexico - 38,320
New York - 2,440,725
Oklahoma - 256,450
Pennsylvania - 619,800
South Dakota - 8,900
Total Ind’s – 10,832,909
* In these state, the independent voter registers in a party, votes in their primary, and in Maine & New Jersey can then change back to independent status. For Nebraska:
•If you wish to vote in the primary election, where parties choose their nominees for state and county offices, you need to declare your party affiliation.
•If you register without a political party affiliation, you will receive only the non-partisan ballots at a primary election.
•Non-partisans may designate a party preference at primary elections and receive partisan ballots for the Senate and House congressional races.
A main reason for this stance by political parties is:
Freedom of association is the right to join or leave groups of a person's own choosing, and for the group to take collective action to pursue the interests of members. It is both an individual right and a collective right, guaranteed by all modern and democratic legal systems. Freedom of association is primarily manifested through the right to join a trade union, free speech or debating societies, political parties, or any other club or association such as religious groups, fraternities, or sport clubs. It is closely linked with the freedom of assembly, particularly under the US Bill of Rights. More specifically the freedom of assembly is understood in a political context, although depending on the source (constitution, human rights instrument, etc.) the right to freedom of association may be understood to include the right to freedom of assembly.
Today many voters have declared their independence and say they want to vote for the candidates and not the party. In many states where they can not take part in the primary voting process, they ask “why are my taxes paying for the candidate selection process of private entities called political parties?”
To answer this question, some states have created different versions of Primaries:
Semi-closed. As in closed primaries, registered party members can vote only in their own party's primary. Semi-closed systems, however, allow unaffiliated voters to participate as well. Depending on the state, independents either make their choice of party primary privately, inside the voting booth, or publicly, by registering with any party on Election Day. Fifteen states — Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming — have semi-closed primaries that allow voters to register or change party preference on election day.
Open. A registered voter may vote in any party primary regardless of his own party affiliation. When voters do not register with a party before the primary, it is called a pick-a-party primary because the voter can select which party's primary he or she wishes to vote in on election day. Because of the open nature of this system, a practice known as raiding may occur. Raiding consists of voters of one party crossing over and voting in the primary of another party, effectively allowing a party to help choose its opposition's candidate. The theory is that opposing party members vote for the weakest candidate of the opposite party in order to give their own party the advantage in the general election.
Semi-open. A registered voter need not publicly declare which political party's primary that they will vote in before entering the voting booth. When voters identify themselves to the election officials, they must request a party's specific ballot. Only one ballot is cast by each voter. In many states with semi-open primaries, election officials or poll workers from their respective parties record each voter's choice of party and provide access to this information. The primary difference between a semi-open and open primary system is the use of a party-specific ballot. In a semi-open primary, a public declaration in front of the election judges is made and a party-specific ballot given to the voter to cast. Certain states that use the open-primary format may print a single ballot and the voter must choose on the ballot itself which political party's candidates they will select for a contested office.
Nonpartisan blanket. A primary in which the ballot is not restricted to candidates from one party, where the top two candidates advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation. But this option in my opinion is to restrictive.
Blanket. A primary in which the ballot is not restricted to candidates from one party. My version would have each party’s candidate with the most votes move to the General Election.
When reading the many articles about our primary system, some of the comments from readers ask “if our taxes are used to run this system why can’t we take part in the process?” Since party’s are private entities and wants to close their candidate selection process they should use their own funds to run it.
So here is my solution:
Create a primary ballot for independents, or as some are called: no party preference or blanks, and include all the candidates running in the primary process for each position. The candidates with the most votes for each position would then appear on the Independent ballot line in the General Election.
In New York, where we use Fusion voting, the candidate’s vote on the Independent ballot line would be added to the total vote the candidate gets on the other ballot lines they appear on.
In my district, 73rd (Mid & Upper Eastside of Manhattan) the registered voter registration is:
Democrat - 51,086
Republican - 21,520
Conservative - 213
Working Family - 52
Independence - 4,079
Green - 117
Other - 41
Blank - 21,990 (No Party Preference)
So this change will allow 21,990 voters to take part in the primary process.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!
Michael H. Drucker
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2 comments:
The post says independents can't vote in partisan primaries in certain states, and that post includes Maine, Nebraska, and New Jersey. But independents can vote in partisan primaries in those states. It is true that in Maine and New Jersey, they are then considered party members, but they can vote. Furthermore, if the voter's sensibility doesn't like being listed as a party member, the voter is free to immediately dis-affiliate.
Also the post says that the following "states" don't permit independents to vote in partisan primaries, but technically it isn't the state that is making that decision. The US Supreme Court says it is up to each party to decide whether to let independents vote in its primaries, so it is the Dem and Rep Parties, not the state, that should be listed.
Will update. My point was that in most of the different primary options, the voter can not select the candidates they want to support, as they can only vote on a selected party ballot. Top-Two is to restrictive, only giving the General Election voter two choices.
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