[Benjamin F. Alexander]

This link gives you the schedule of primaries and caucusus. Only Iowans had the opportunity to vote from the full slate of candidates. Next Tuesday, New Hampshire’s Republicans will be voting from a lineup that does not include Rand Paul, and on the Democratic side, Martin O’Malley has fallen off as well. After New Hampshire, you can expect several more Republicans to drop out. Is this an unfair inequality, that the majority of voters in the country will be voting in primaries after the field has already been winnowed down? What would be a more fair way to run the primary election system?

Be aware of several things: (1) the primaries and caucuses are to choose delegates to the party conventions; (2) it’s only since 1968 that voters in primaries have had anywhere near as much influence as they do now in picking the nominees; and (3) the whole setup and schedule of the primaries and caucuses results from the maneuvers of the party organizations at the national and state levels, and the legislatures of the individual states; and (4) there is absolutely nothing in the Constitution which says that the general public has the right to vote on who will be president of the United States. But that’s just how it is; how do you think it should be?

RELATED LINK: NPR News report on the secretary of state of New Hampshire who has defended the tradition of the New Hampshire primary.

• This topic was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by Benjamin F. Alexander.

[Special K]

Why is it that Phoenix’s polling sites have been reduced from 200 to 80? People were standing in line for 4 to 5 hours just to vote. There are people who were standing in line for hours and finally gave up. What about consideration for the elderly and handicapped? Is it possible that these polling sites were closed because Phoenix is one of the most racially diverse cities in the state? Whatever the reason, the poll site closings is a disgrace and should be investigated. Something definitely has to be done before November.

[Special K]

I’m listening to Lee Fung who’s featured on Democracy Now and he says that a significant number of super delegates are registered lobbyists. If this is true, how ethical is it for registered lobbyists to be casting votes for POTUS? If this true then it further reinforces the notion that the electoral college should be abolished.

[Benjamin F. Alexander]

Reminder: Superdelegates are part of the Democratic National Convention, a completely separate event from the electoral college. The party conventions are run by the parties rather than by the government, and they have a lot more leeway when it comes to how they can run them. Superdelegates, it should be remembered, are party elites, mostly elected officeholders. I’m not sure how many of them are lobbyists, but there isn’t tight regulation of the conventions, because a political party is, in effect, a club, and the conventions are all about which candidate is going to run with the official endorsement of that club. (However, that doesn’t stop primary elections from being subject to federal anti-discrimination law.)

[Special K]

While I’m listening to Bernie Sanders’ wife on WBAI this morning, she reminds us that Independents are not allowed to vote in the primaries. I was formerly an Independent as far back as 1987 as a result of learning about the origins of the Republican and Democratic Parties in relation to African Americans. After years of being locked out of voting in the primaries, I switched back to the Democratic Party, four years ago. I still consider myself an Independent but I want the option to vote. So, how fair is it that Independent voters are not allowed to participate in the primaries? What can be done to change that considering that each election cycle, an increasing numbers of voters are changing their political affiliation from Democrat to Independent?

[Benjamin F. Alexander]

Each state has its own policies, when it comes to that, but it does need to be remembered that the primaries represent each party choosing its nominee. What happens when switching back and forth becomes supereasy is that members of Party A become members of Party B just long enough to vote for the candidate they consider weakest in order that their own party will beat that weak candidate in November. But an Independent can always become a Democrat or a Republican; it’s purely a matter of how far back the deadline is.