2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumCould strange ballot rules hurt Bernie Sanders' chances in California?
EMILY SCHULTHEIS
CBS NEWS
Next Tuesday here in California, 2.2 million people registered as "Decline to State" or nonpartisan voters will be eligible to cast a vote in the heated Democratic primary between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
But because of the state's somewhat confusing rules for balloting, many of them will turn in ballots without actually casting a vote for either presidential candidate in the process--a quirk of the system that could end up costing Sanders votes he desperately needs to help him close the gap with Clinton.
Under California's election rules, nonpartisan voters can cast a ballot in the Democratic primary, but they must specifically request a Democratic ballot in order to receive one in the mail with Sanders' and Clinton's names on it. Those who didn't either request a Democratic ballot by Tuesday, May 31, or show up to vote in person on primary day and request a Democratic ballot there, are limited to voting in local races.
What's more, once someone has turned in a ballot--even if they later realize it was the wrong one and didn't include presidential races--they can't fill out another one.
Dustlawyer
(10,497 posts)a ballot with all races reflected on it!
CrowCityDem
(2,348 posts)This whole thing is Bernie's fault, for not having people on the ground earlier to make sure his most likely voters knew the rules. It's pretty simple. If you are unaffiliated, you have to tell the board of elections which ballot you want. They can't divine your intentions.
MineralMan
(146,325 posts)different parties' ballots. That's why they have to request the ballot for the party they want to vote in. That's what you do if you don't register as affiliated with a party.
This is nothing new. The counties that mail out the ballots have no way to known which ballot a voter who has not selected a party wants to use, and California doesn't do multiple party ballots.
So, it's up to the individual voter to request the preferred ballot. Pretty simply, really.
The county clerk can't decide to send you a Democratic ballot if you are not registered as a Democrat.
Retrograde
(10,146 posts)At least the Democrats are offering NPP voters an opportunity, unlike the Republicans this year. And, of course, all of this is spelled out in the friendly voter's guide that was sent to all registered voters in the state.
MineralMan
(146,325 posts)presidential primary race. They get the non-partisan ballot. Everyone who is an NPP registrant can ask for the ballot he or she prefers.
And then there are those who registered with the American Independent Party. Some of those will think they're independents, but they won't get to pick which ballot to vote on. They'll get the AIP ballot. Won't they be surprised?
NorthCarolina
(11,197 posts)which will not be counted, to anyone requesting a Dem ballot that is not a registered Democrat.
http://boingboing.net/2016/06/03/california-democratic-primary.html
MineralMan
(146,325 posts)It's been corrected by now. I saw that story a few weeks ago.
Tarc
(10,476 posts)Rules aren't hard to figure out and follow. Why is it that only Sanders supporters seem to have so much difficulty figuring out how o vote?
MineralMan
(146,325 posts)Either because of their age or because they don't bother to vote much.
anotherproletariat
(1,446 posts)There was lots of notice on the local news, etc. about the registration deadline (including the need to change parties if necessary), and now about the NPP people requesting a Democratic ballot, if they want. We have an in-law unit that we rent to a woman who is NPP, and the Bernie people came by to drop off info for her to know how to cast a vote in the Democratic Presidential Primary. Unfortunately for them, she is a Hillary supporter, but the point is that they are out and spreading the word, so I don't think the ballot limitation will be a big factor.
LiberalFighter
(51,030 posts)But seasoned Californians should know the rules involved when participating in elections.
Samantha
(9,314 posts)This was reported earlier on this site.
Sam
Postscript: Read post 65 on this thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141467698#post65
It has complete instructions.