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Gena
01-10-2008, 11:42 AM
I don't want to start a political debate here; I'm just trying to understand how other people view this aspect of our election process. I hope this topic is allowed.

Do you vote in your state’s presidential primary if you don’t consider yourself to really be a member of either major party?

I’m a political independent and always have been. I’m not against people belonging to a political party. It’s just that I don’t agree with any one party enough to consider myself a member. However, I’ve always lived in states where you have to sign a statement of party affiliation to vote for presidential candidates in the primary. Since I refuse to do so, I don’t vote for the candidates. But if there are non-partisan issues on the ballot (such as a tax levy), I will vote on an “Issues Only Ballot”.

Hubby disagrees with this. Although he is also an independent, he has no problem signing a party declaration for the primary, even if he changes parties every four years. If there is a candidate he really likes he will declare that party and vote for that person. He says that the party declaration is just a formality and doesn’t really mean anything.

I completely understand what he means and I know it makes sense. But I cannot bring myself to sign a paper saying that I belong to one party or another when I know that it isn’t true.

So, I’m wondering what other political independents do in this situation.

LarsMal
01-10-2008, 11:55 AM
Hubby disagrees with this. Although he is also an independent, he has no problem signing a party declaration for the primary, even if he changes parties every four years. If there is a candidate he really likes he will declare that party and vote for that person. He says that the party declaration is just a formality and doesn’t really mean anything.

I completely understand what he means and I know it makes sense. But I cannot bring myself to sign a paper saying that I belong to one party or another when I know that it isn’t true.

So, I’m wondering what other political independents do in this situation.

I'm not a political independent, but I don't always agree w/vote along party lines. For the most part, I do, but not 100% of my votes have gone to the party I "belong" to.

I can see both sides of you and your husband's argument. On one hand, who cares what you sign on the paper, because that doesn't mean you HAVE to vote for that party, but at the same time, why should you be forced to pick one when you don't really want to? If I was in your situation I would probably sign the paper, maybe switching parties each time, just to feel like I wasn't "joining" one. I think voting is so important that I would suck it up and sign just so I could go to the polls and cast my vote.

I hope this doesn't come off snarky, I'm just typing quickly! Just my 2 cents!

katydid1971
01-11-2008, 02:23 AM
Every state has different laws about how the primary or caucus is run. When a state makes you declare a party its to protect that party from people of the other party voting for a weaker candidate. An example is when one party has an incubent and the primary is really a formality because no one is running against him people from that party might vote for a very weak candidate of the other party to help their party's candidate in the general election. Does that make sense how I explained it? This year is different because there are no clear cut leader yet in eithor party so the primary is important to both parties and people won't be crossing parties to weaken tickets. I agree with your husband if there is a candidate you are leaning towards you should declare yourself a member of that party in order to be able to support that person. You can always go back to your independent status as soon as the primary is over. FYI, I am a regular donor to my party and volunteer at every election for my party. In my many years of being able to vote I have voted at every election and have no problem stating my allegence to my party, soon all my neighbors will be reminded of my view through my yard signs :) That's my 2 cents hope it helps.

ellies mom
01-11-2008, 03:18 AM
I'm an independent. I've always voted like you do but I actually agree with your husband. I've just never felt strongly enough to register with a political party for a specific election probably because in the primaries at least it is usually a moot point by the time it is my turn to vote.

Technically Washington has open primaries so technically I could vote but I found out yesterday that it isn't that simple. Both parties have caucuses before the primary. The Republicans assign close to half their delegates based on the caucus results and the other close to half based on the primary results. The Democrats assign all of their delegates based on the caucus results, ignoring the primaries entirely. So if you are a Democrat and you are either unaware of this (like my Democrat DH) or you cannot attend a caucus for whatever reason (no real absentee ballots), then your vote in the primaries simply doesn't count. So, our open primaries are pretty pointless really. I have to say that really bothers me because they are really making it too difficult for many people to vote. And there doesn't seem to be much press about this being the process, so I can imagine that there are a lot of people who think they are voting but for all intensive purposes are not. OK, that is a bit off topic but it is fresh in my mind.