To get on the ballot in, New Hampshire, the first-in-the-nation primary state, candidates must fill out paperwork that requires them to identify as a registered member of a political party.
"I don't know if it will be a problem," New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner said when asked whether Sanders' independent status could keep him off the ballot.
New Hampshire officials won't take up a case against Sanders without a complaint, Gardner said. A formal challenge to Sanders' eligibility would likely make its way to the state's Ballot Law Commission, the arbiter of such questions. Former Republican U.S. Rep. Charlie Bass raised the issue of Sanders' eligibility in a recent Washington Post opinion piece.
"In short, Sanders is not a Democrat, has not been elected as a Democrat, has never served as a Democrat and cannot plausibly claim, at least in New Hampshire, to be a Democrat," Bass wrote.
New Hampshire's form asks candidates to declare their party registration,
In Sanders' 2006 and 2012 elections to the U.S. Senate, he consented to run in the Democratic primary. After getting the most votes in that contest, Sanders then rejected the nomination and ran as an independent in the general election, Winters said.
It's not as if his home-state Democrats are pining for a national party standard-bearer: Vermont Democrats including Gov. Peter Shumlin, former Gov. Howard Dean and Sen. Patrick Leahy are all backing former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in the 2016 campaign.
So far, other Democrats expected on the ballot are Clinton, former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and former U.S. Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia.
In New Hampshire, an undeclared voter may vote in a state primary or a presidential primary. They will be required to choose either a Republican or Democratic ballot when they go to vote.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
2 comments:
It is not true that a New Hampshire voter can't vote in a primary unless he or she is registered in that party. New Hampshire independent voters are free to vote any primary.
Thanks. I corrected the post with the wording from the NH BOE.
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