General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: 27 Percent of New York’s Registered Voters Won’t Be Able to Vote in the State’s Primary [View all]Igel
(35,317 posts)people don't get what the parties are. They think that somehow they're part of the established constitutional or election system, instead of just being how things are because they suit a lot of the population. NYS could move to a caucus system and dispose of their primaries next year if they wanted to.
Parties are independent organizations where members act collectively for their common good. They choose a candidate, and the party infrastructure then supports that candidate on behalf of the collective. Other candidates can self-nominate, but they have some serious disadvantages. There are numerous parties in NYS. Some are regional.
In some senses, they're like unions. The UAW and NEA make a lot of decisions that affects a lot of people--not just union members, but non-union workers in the same organizations, the management, consumers of products and services. But when it comes to who's going to decide the UAW or NEA elected officials, it's a closed election because ultimately, whatever the blather and bloviation, the UAW and NEA looks out for its own members. We fall for the palaver when we need to convince others, but when the unions make decisions that adversely affect non-union workers, it's a point of pride that the union looks after its own first and foremost.
Same with parties.
Perhaps the parties' cut-offs for membership are too early. I'm not a New Yorker these days, so I get no say, and properly so. Because the NY (D) party is, first and foremost, for NY (D) voters.
In Texas, you join a party when you go to the polls to vote in a primary. They're closed, but open. It's like a 2-second party registration cut-off for already-registered voters. In fact, if you don't vote and declare a party you're essentially an independent until the next election. And still we have complaints. If there's a run-off--and sometimes there is--then you can't vote unless you voted in the primary and are in the right party. A lot of de facto independents suddenly take notice, some voters in the other party take notice, and suddenly want to have a say. But can't.
For the life of me, though, I've never understood why anybody would ever register as an independent in some states except as a pre-vote of disapproval. It gets you nothing, ever--it doesn't let you do anything a party member can do, ever. But it can amount to self-disenfranchisement. And if there are any limits that a lot of people truly hate, it's the limits they place on themselves as a consequence of a choice, esp. an uninformed choice. (It's a twofer: It says you're not informed, a blow to the ego; and it says you made a bad choice, and were wrong--another blow to the ego. Of course, it's always somebody else's fault.)