CA. Lawmaker wants to open presidential primary ballots to all voters
11:07 A.M.PATRICK MCGREEVY
Lawmaker wants to open presidential primary ballots to all voters
With voters registered as no party preference locked out of voting in this week’s closed Republican presidential primary, one lawmaker proposed Thursday to open future votes to everyone.
Assemblyman Adam Gray (D-Merced) and the Independent Voter Project announced the proposed amendment to the state Constitution that would create a single presidential ballot from which all Californians could pick and choose candidates from any party.
However, the proposal would leave it up to the political parties to decide whether to count votes from no-party-preference voters or those of other parties.
“When voters fill out their ballot they expect to be able to vote for their candidate of choice, regardless of political party,” Gray said in a statement. “While voters have that right in every other state and federal election, their choices are artificially limited when voting for president of the United States.”
In addition to being locked out of the Republican presidential primary, no-party-preference voters also had to ask poll workers for ballots containing Democratic presidential candidates and those of other parties. Gray said that is unfair given that elections are paid for by taxpayers.
“If political parties want to write the rules, then they should pay for the primary elections themselves instead of asking taxpayers to foot the bill,” Gray said.
Republican Party officials were not immediately available to comment on the proposal, which would have to be approved by the state’s voters.
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-p...htmlstory.html
