When I went to vote today, they asked me which party I am registered with (Republican). However, I always vote for the person, not the straight party candidates. When I got to the new computer pads they are using, I was not allowed to vote for anyone who was NOT Republican. The option to vote for any Democrats was denied to me by the machine. I asked around, and was told that no other party candidates (Independant, etc) were even offered. Only Republican or Democrats, according to your registration. What the heck is up with this?
I totally agree with Super Dude's last comment. I am in California, and as I recall (fuzzily in truth) the last primary allowed us, no matter what our party registration, to vote for who we wanted. This time, even in the local elections, I could only vote for Republicans. This is Orange County, California, Republican territory, so I wouldn't put anything past them to be honest. Thanks to everyone for their input, I am calling the Voter's Registration on Monday, to make sure about what this is all about. But I have never been forced to only vote Republican, including local candidates for local offices before...
To simplify the above, if your state rules (law) doesn't allow Republicans to vote for any other party in a primary, it makes no sense to go to a democratic primary because you won't be able to vote for anyone. I believe this is true. the same applies visa versa for Democrats trying to vote in a Republican primary
I know some states only allow voting for the party that you registered for before the primary. For instance if you registered Republican you are only allowed to vote Republican in a primary in some states. I would ask someone in your state what the rules or law is. I believe when you are actually voting for an elected official (not a primary) you can vote for any of the candidates that made it onto a ballot. Then again, there are rules for those candidates to get onto a ballot.
Were third party candidates on the paper or machine ballot in the California primary? Is the primary closed by party registration and this carried over to the computer? Do you fear your vote being hacked or not counted properly?
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