General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIs it illegal in Miss. to vote for a candidate in the primary that you don't intend to support
in the general?
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But this second push to control the electorate is more dramatic than the Times lets on. The paper quotes Senate Conservatives Fund President Ken Cuccinelli in saying, accurately, that voters who drew a Democratic ballot three weeks ago can't vote in the Republican primary tomorrow. True. But Adams, quoted in the Times piece, told Breibart.com's embedded reporter Matt Boyle that it would be illegal for a voter who intended to vote against the winner of the GOP primary to cast a ballot at all.
The Mississippi law Adams cites, MS Code 23-15-575, states: No person shall be eligible to participate in any primary election unless he intends to support the nominations made in which he participates.
Mississippi law prohibits Democrats from voting in a Republican primary, Adams said in an emailed statement. Obviously poll workers arent mind readers. But if someone doesnt intend to support the nominee in November, then that person isnt allowed to vote in the Republican primary.
Indeed, that's what the code says. That argument, which hasn't been reported much outside of conservative media, is getting better known within it. Yesterday, independent conservative reporter Charles Johnson scooped a robocall directed at black voters, telling them to vote against "Tea Party candidate Chris McDaniel" and thereby do a solid for President Obama. "It is illegal," explained Johnson, "to encourage someone to vote for someone in the primary who they do not intend to vote for in the general."
Given that more than 90 percent of Mississippi's black voters usually vote Democratic, poll-watchers have an easy way of spotting interlopers. Hey, you, picking up the Republican ballot! Do you plan to vote for the winner of the Republican primary.
UPDATE: Rick Hasen has more, including the recent legal decisions that weaken Adams' argument.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2014/06/23/how_will_poll_watchers_in_mississippi_spot_the_black_democrats_voting_in.html
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)No person shall be eligible to participate in any primary election unless he intends to support the nominations made in which he participates.
'support'. It doesn't say 'vote for'. I can 'support' having a choice of two decent candidates in the general, as opposed to one decent one and one idiot, without intending to actually vote for one of them.
any more than it was in VA07.
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)There is no law stipulating who you vote for in the GE. Voters vross party lines in GE all the time.
As I understand, in Miss. you can chose which primary you vote in. In this case of a primary runoff, you can't vote in the GOP runoff if you voted in the Dem primary. However, you can vote in the runoff if you voted in the GOP primary, or if you didn't vote in either primary.
No matter how you vote in the primary, your vote in the GE isn't restricted. Sounds like somebody is spreading fear tactics.
unblock
(52,421 posts)which it isn't, of course.
as stated, this means that if hitler is running in the primary, i can't vote for gandhi unless i fully intend to support hitler in the event that i am outvoted.
obviously, any law that attempts to peer into the minds of voters at the ballot box and criminalize certain intentions is flagrantly inconsistent with a remotely functioning democracy.
Rstrstx
(1,399 posts)Good luck trying to charge someone yet alone getting the law to survive a Constitutional challenge.