Marc Ambinder: "A Last Minute Hurdle Erected in Michigan?" Only Dems allowed to vote!

[flpoljunkie]

A Last Minute Hurdle Erected in Michigan?

17 Mar 2008 04:18 pm

The proposed primary re-vote legislation in Michigan prevents those who've voted in the Republican primary from voting in the re-vote.

Fair enough, right?

But about 32% of the those who vote in the GOP primary, according to the exit polls, were Democrats or independents.

It's a fair bet that many of them were Obama supporters, as he was not on the original Michigan ballot.

This could be a dealbreaker for the Obama campaign in Michigan. (Don't say!)

Michigan Democrats have said that they won't move the bill the forward unless the Obama campaign gives its assent.

I'm told the Obama campaign is reviewing this part of the legislation....

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/03/a_last_minute_hurdle_erected_i.php

[Johnny__Motown]

1. Hell, we were asked to vote for Romney just to keep the Repugs fighting

I voted Uncommitted but still....


Talk about Disenfranchising

[democrattotheend]

2. I have a coworker who voted in the GOP primary

who would have supported Obama had he had the chance. He will be pissed if he doesn't get to vote in the do-over.

Letting people who voted in the GOP primary vote again is risky too though, with the Limbaugh shenanigans we've seen in the past few elections.

Maybe they could use participation in previous primaries to judge eligibility. So, if someone voted in the GOP primary this year but voted in the Democratic primary in 2004 or 2006, they'd be allowed to vote now. Probably not a viable solution, but just a thought.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

14. Way I See It, Tough Shit On Your Coworker. No One Forced Him To Do A Thing.

If this debacle was going on in Jersey and I would've felt that my vote wouldn't matter because of the rules etc, I would've NEVER voted in the GOP primary. Why? Cause I'm a fucking Democrat. To be honest, I probably would've voted in the Dem primary anyway, but even regardless I wouldn't have voted for the GOP one. Since your coworker chose to, that's their own damn problem.

[2rth2pwr]

3. Seat the delegates as is and move on. nt

[flpoljunkie]

4. Is that you, Howard?

[Pirate Smile]

11. I don't know who you are talking to because I see nothing.

Ignore is a wonderful function. :)

[cali]

6. You mean give Hilly all the MI delegates?

Not a chance.

[Texas Hill Country]

5. Could be cause even Rasmussen says that Clinton has more dem support and that Obama is only ahead in

polls because he has more indy's


"Among Democrats, Clinton leads 48% to 42%, but Obama has a substantial lead among unaffiliated voters likely to participate in a Democratic Primary. "

[ingac70]

7. People who voted in the Repug primary should not vote in the Dem do over...

Letting them do so would be asking for shenanigans by Republicans.

I'm sure plenty of folks sat out the election because at the time it was suppose to count.

[dansolo]

8. Sorry, but I have to say tough shit

I find the idea of voting in the other party's primary to mess with it reprehensible. We don't like that the Repubs are voting in our primaries. Yes, it sucks that people chose to cross over and vote in the Republican primary because they thought their vote didn't count. If you decided to vote in one party's primary, then you absolutely should not be allowed to vote in the other primary.

[LisaM]

I agree with you. If a Democrat voted in a GOP primary to make mischief

and can't vote now, well, too bad.

You can't vote in primaries for two different parties. Voting "uncommitted" on the Democratic ballot as an option was heavily advertised. My Hillary-supporting family all did that.

[redqueen]

9. "Michigan Democrats have said that they won't move the bill the forward unless..."

Uh, not "won't" but "can't". This guy needs to consider doing some research.

As for, "I'm told the Obama campaign is reviewing..." shyeeah, right. Pardon me for not taking this guy's word for anything, since he doesn't even seem to grok how the MI process works. :eyes:

[Johnny__Motown]

12. Obama Groks Fully, he just doesn't cheat...

[Adelante]

10. Unacceptable nt

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

13. On Its Face That Makes Perfect Sense, And I'd Say Shame On Any Candidate Who Wouldn't Sign Off On It

If Obama puts a roadblock in the way based on that alone, I will lose a little respect for him.

Can you normally vote in more than one primary in that state, or are you always limited to one? There is nothing wrong with that suggestion whatsoever and I will be extremely disappointed if they reject it based on that. We need to get this revote done and have the people of Michigan's voice heard. Let's hope he doesn't become petty over this, and I'll have faith in him that he won't.

[Kittycat]

17. No, it disenfranchises crossovers that would likely support both candidates.

MI has an open primary, so the same base of rules should apply so that ALL voters have a chance to get their vote counted. It shouldn't however count anyone that voted in the republican primary, early on (which does include indies & crossover dems).

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

18. What Are You Talking About?

Doesn't the article only REFERENCE those who voted in the republican primary?

If they voted in the republican primary they're done. Simple as that.

[Kittycat]

15. I think if they have open primary rules, then it should be open to all - except...

Those that voted for republicans. I understand that this impacts dems - but it's a lesson to not try and cheat the system.

[knixphan]

16. I say go for it.

And flush out new unregistered young voters to replace the ones who went deep cover in the GOP.

We will prevail nonetheless.

GOBAMA.

[PoliticalOne65]

19. Just a question?

How do they know who voted in the last primary? They have a signature list when one votes and they mark off the name. This is to keep people from voting more than once, but from there how do they know who voted democrat or who voted republican. After all once in the booth our vote is secret. In Alabama we go into the polling place walk up to a table and they ask our name. They look at a list of names to see if we are registered at that polling place. They then ask for an ID to see if we are who we say we are. They mark our name off the registered voting list. Then they ask are you voting republican or democrat. We tell them which one and we sign a paper: one marked Dem Primary, or Rep primary. When they see which paper we sign they hand us the respective ballot and we go off to the booth and vote. Now there is a list of people that voted. and two signed list of people that voted in the two primaries. All one would have to do is cross reference the voter list with the signed republican primary list, and one can determine who not to allow to vote. This still doesn't keep republicans that didn't vote last time from voting, or republicans that voted democrat can still vote. Independents can still vote because they didn't take place in either primary. Edwards Dems can now vote for Hillary or Obama. The uncommitted vote can vote for who ever they wanted to.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

20. I think you had to request a Dem ballot or pug ballot for the primary

so you could vote in either, but the voting rolls would say which side you voted in.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

21. That's an interesting problem

I probably would have voted for Romney in MI to try to block McCain, so I wouldn't be able to vote in the "real" Dem primary now.

That would suck.

But on the other hand, there is no conceivable argument for anyone being able to cast two valid votes. Nobody who already cast a vote in the pug primary can get to vote again.

[ORDem]

22. Ahhh, now we know why Hillary was supporting the MI re-vote. Because, it

it was simply done under the original rules but with Obama's name on the ballot it would hurt her big-time. Even this way it hurts her as all the MI votes/delegates that she currently puts in her column would go poof until June, making a yawning gap in pop. vote and delegate counts compared to Obama.

:dem:

[Life Long Dem]

23. If a revote is good for one dem then it ought to be good for ALL dems. No matter how they voted.

They could have voted for anyone but Hillary. And since she and DK were the only ones on the ballot they looked at the repub race.