Thread: New York’s Upcoming Primary Is ‘Closed Shut’ To Certain Voters

New York’s Upcoming Primary Is ‘Closed Shut’ To Certain Voters

BY EMILY ATKIN APR 7, 2016 9:13 AM

CREDIT: AP PHOTO/WILFREDO LEE

Democratic presidential candidates and New Yorkers, Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., are facing off in New York's presidential primary on April 19.

Devin Cannon’s voter registration has been marked “independent” for as long as she can remember. This means she’s never been allowed to vote in a major party presidential primary election in New York, which operates on a closed primary system.
But this year, she wanted to change.

“I truly did not feel that I belonged in either party,” she told ThinkProgress via email. “And suddenly Bernie Sanders came along.”

I hung up feeling completely defeated and confused and honestly just started crying.Cannon knew she had to switch her party affiliation to Democrat if she wanted to vote for Sanders, the independent U.S. senator from Vermont who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. She also knew that she had to change her party by October 9, 2015 — more than six months before the election happened. New York’s October deadline is the earliest change-of-party deadline in America.

Not wanting to miss her chance, Cannon said she mailed a change-of-party form to the Monroe County Board of Elections in August. But when she checked on the status of her registration last month, she was told her form wasn’t received until late October. She would be ineligible to vote for Sanders in the spring.
“I hung up feeling completely defeated and confused and honestly just started crying,” Cannon said.

Cannon’s situation is most likely a product of human error — the registration may have gotten lost in the mail, for example. Monroe County Board of Elections commissioner Thomas Ferrarese said it’s unlikely her form got backlogged or lost. “We’re very sensitive about processing everything on time,” he said.

Mistake or otherwise, experts say New York’s strict closed primary rules — which state that only registered Democrats can vote for Democratic presidential candidates, and only registered Republicans can vote for Republicans — coupled with its uniquely early change-of-party deadline will prevent more people than Cannon from voting for their preferred candidate.

And in an election year driven by widespread appeal for non-establishment candidates, the fallout from the muddled process may be greater than ever.

Expecting Problems On Election Day

Cannon probably isn’t the only New Yorker who will experience problems on April 19, the state’s upcoming Election Day. More than 3 million people — about 27 percent of the state’s voters — were registered outside the Republican and Democratic parties as of April. In a presidential campaign marked by popular non-establishment candidates and high independent voter turnout, those voters could swing the primary results significantly.

Susan Lerner, the executive director at Common Cause New York, says it’s likely at least some of those people will get turned away at the polls due to confusion about the early change-of-party deadline.

“We think that there are going to be some number of people who are going to show up at polling places on April 19 expecting to be able to vote because they’re registered, and they won’t be able to,” Lerner told ThinkProgress. “People don’t understand that they have to register very far in advance.”

We think that there are going to be some number of people who are going to show up at polling places … and they won’t be able to [vote].There are a number of reasons why some New York voters might get confused, and think they’re able to vote when they aren’t, Lerner said. For one, voters might just not know about the strict process — they may think New York has open primaries, or same-day voter registration, like other states.

“They’ll think that New York, like other states, has same-day registration or an open primary,” she said. “And we’re not even close to open … I like to say we have a closed-shut primary system.”

In addition, some registered voters who switched parties after the October 9 deadline may not have received clear confirmations that their party change would not count for the presidential primary election.

Thomas Connolly, the deputy director of public information at the New York State Board of Elections, told ThinkProgress that individual counties are in charge of sending out confirmation notices to voters, and there’s no state law mandating what those notices should say.

Many voters have already expressed frustration and confusion about the change-of-party deadline, Connolly said. He said he’s been getting “dozens” of voter complaints about this every day — far more than usual.

“A lot of people have called and complained and criticized us for not doing more to publicize this deadline,” he said. “But there’s only so much we can do with the resources we have. The public information office is literally two people.”

Rosemarie Clouston, who manages the voter hotline at Election Protection, told ThinkProgress she’s also received complaints from registered independents in New York who want to be able to vote in the primaries.

“It’s not new for this election, but unfortunately folks are trying to vote in this election, getting caught up by the law, and are not able to vote for the people they wanted to vote for in these primaries because of this,” she said.

Why Is The System Like This?

The October 9 deadline to change parties only impacts New Yorkers who were already registered to vote beforehand. New, previously unregistered voters had until March 25 to file registrations, and they could choose whichever party they wanted.

But in other states, the process for all voters — registered or not — is a bit more flexible. At least 16 states have completely open primaries, where anyone is allowed to vote in the presidential nominating contest, regardless of party affiliation. Ten states have semi-open primaries, where party-affiliated voters are restricted to their party’s primary but independent voters can choose which nominating contest they’d like to vote in.

They have the power base, and what they seek to do is preserve their power base.The main argument for open primaries is that they’re more accessible. The main argument against them is that they’re subject to so-called “party crashing,” when people from another party conspire to manipulate the contest and vote en masse for a bad or unelectable candidate.

Party crashing doesn’t happen much for large parties like Democrats and Republicans. But in New York, where smaller parties like Green and Working Families have actual influence in the state, a closed primary may protect them from outside manipulation.

“That’s kind of part of why the closed process is there — it doesn’t allow the larger parties to steal minor parties’ nominations,” Ferrarese said. “I think that’s a safeguard that protects the minor parties that a lot of people don’t realize.”

Lerner, however, said she believes the state’s closed primary system allows political parties, not voters, to be the “dominant force” of elections in the state.

“The closed primary system means that all election administration and election law is determined in terms of what is best for the two major political parties and the people that run the parties,” she said.

As for why New York has such an early change-of-party deadline, Lerner said she believes the political parties want longtime, faithful voters.

“They don’t see it as advantageous to have extraneous voters suddenly joining their party to suddenly vote in a primary,” she said. “They have the power base, and what they seek to do is preserve their power base.”

Bad News For Sanders, Trump

When it comes to New York’s fast-approaching presidential primary election, Lerner said potential voters from both parties would likely be impacted by New York’s strict election rules. But she said that people voting for “the two non-establishment candidates” — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and billionaire Donald Trump — would bear the brunt of the confusion. That’s because voters for those candidates were more likely to have been previously unaffiliated with a political party, or more likely to have wanted to switch parties to vote for their preferred candidate.

Sanders supporters even set up a page back in October raising the alarm about the change-of-party deadline for independents and voters registered with more liberal factions like the Green Party or the Liberal Party.

So far, it seems true that non-establishment candidates like Trump and Sanders tend to do better in open primaries, where people can vote in whichever party’s primary they choose.

I’ve yet to come across [a voter registration] that’s been maliciously changed. There’s always been a legitimate reason.In the current Republican battle between Trump and Sen. Tex Cruz (R-TX), Trump has done better in open primary contests while Cruz has done better in closed contests, according to a Fox News analysis. And the New York Times reported that Sanders’ statewide victories have been “fueled by his large vote margins among independents,” who may be restricted from voting in closed primaries.

And when it comes to New York’s complicated voting laws, Sanders supporters seem to be the ones complaining most loudly. Allegations of fraud and willful manipulation of voter registrations in New York have been widespread on the Sanders for President Reddit page, where voters have been posting personal stories of sketchy dealings with their local board of elections.

State Board of Elections official Thomas Connolly told ThinkProgress he’s been receiving complaints about alleged manipulations of voter registrations, particularly from Sanders supporters. But he said that each one he’s followed up on has been because a mistake on the voter’s part — usually because they didn’t fully understand New York’s complicated election law.

“It really comes down to simply a lack of awareness of the sometimes convoluted nature of New York State election law,” he said. “I’ve yet to come across [a voter registration] that’s been maliciously changed. There’s always been a legitimate reason.”

Fighting For Change, But Going Nowhere

What Connolly said he most wants to convey to frustrated voters is this: He understands, even sympathizes, which their concerns. But he’s not in charge of what the law says.

“I understand that people aren’t happy,” he said. “People aren’t happy that New York State has a closed primary. People aren’t happy that the deadline is so long, and they say it’s unconstitutional, and I say listen, you’re not the first person to think this.”

I get it. But again, you’re yelling at the wrong person.“I get it,” he added. “But again, you’re yelling at the wrong person.”

If you’re unhappy with New York’s election law, the right people to yell at are in the state Legislature. And as it turns out, Lerner has been yelling at the state Legislature for years — though to little avail. Every session, she said, there are bills to reform elections, bills to move the deadline to change party registrations, and bills to make primaries more open. But they always fail, every time.

The frustration in Lerner’s voice was palpable. She seemed defeated — she doubted that the growing popularity of independent candidates like Sanders and Trump would motivate people to lobby for more accessible elections in New York. But, she said, if people really do want to change the laws, they have to call their legislators — not the board of elections.
“If people actually started to complain to people who could change it, maybe that would work,” she said.

“Embarrassing the legislators by having outraged voters actually calling their legislators, rather than the board of elections, might actually start to make a difference.”

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/20...ntial-primary/

New Bill Aims to Give Voting Rights to Illegal Aliens in N.Y.C.

NYC schools push to get 20,000 teen students to register to vote in 2016

BY BEN CHAPMAN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, March 15, 2016, 1:39 PM

JEFFERSON SIEGEL/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina speaks during a City Hall press conference announcing Student Voter Registration Day.


City schools are getting out the vote this year.

Volunteer registration workers are targeting more than 20,000 teen students at 60 public schools across the city Friday in a push to sign up new voters.

Organizers at the NYC Campaign Finance Board say this year’s second annual Student Voter Registration Day is more than twice the size of last year's drive, when 2,000 public school students from 25 schools registered to vote.

“New Yorkers will be making crucial choices in the 2016 elections,” said NYCCFB director of voter assistance Onida Coward Mayers at a press conference on the steps of City Hall Tuesday.

“It is imperative that we hear the voices of our youngest voters,” she said.

VIEW GALLERY

2016 presidential candidates

Schools across the city will be setting aside time Friday to educate high school seniors on the voting process and sign eligible students up to vote.

Any U.S. citizen who is 18 or will turn 18 by Dec. 31 can register to vote this year.

Voters must be 18 by Nov. 8 to cast a ballot in the 2016 presidential elections, however.

At Tuesday’s press conference, city schools boss Carmen Fariña called Student Voter Registration Day a boon to democracy.

“Our democracy can only exist when we have informed and active citizens — and that is why we want our students to understand how important voting is,” Fariña said.

© CHRIS KEANE / REUTERS/REUTERS

Any U.S. citizen who is 18 or will turn 18 by Dec. 31 can register to vote this year. Voters must be 18 by Nov. 8 to cast a ballot in the 2016 presidential elections, however.


NYC Campaign Finance Board officials said that just 11% of registered voters aged 18-29 cast ballots in the city’s 2013 mayoral elections, compared to 25% of all registered voters.

Council Member Helen Rosenthal, who spearheaded the city's Student Voter Registration Day pilot program in 2015, said many issues faced by high school students are decided by elected officials.

"Every year is an election year, and voting in state and local elections matters," Rosenthal said.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.2565129

Oh wow, that's really a shame. There's probably a lot of voters who would like to become Republicans to vote for Trump.

Opinion:
​
The 'Trump Effect' in New York? More people registering to vote him out

By Eliana Fernandez
Published April 07, 2016 Fox News

• 
  People protesting against Donald Trump in Bethpage, New York, Wednesday, April 6, 2016. (AP)
  

For much of my childhood, I lived in Ecuador without my parents. It was very hard to grow up that way, because I was the youngest of my siblings, and when I got bullied, I didn’t have my parents there to stand up for me.

When I moved to New York just before I turned 15, we got to live together as a family for the first time. I felt angry at first. I wondered why they’d left me behind — maybe they didn’t love me enough?

I can’t vote this year, but you can bet that immigrants like me in New York are going to make sure that eligible relatives and neighbors like my sister-in-law register and head to the polls. For that, I say: thank you Donald.

- Eliiana Fernandez

Years later, as a mother who wants what’s best for her two children, I understand why my parents did what they did. They wanted to give us a better education and future than I could have had in Ecuador. And their difficult decision paid off: my brother, sister, and I have degrees in math, engineering, and sociology respectively. I was on the Dean’s List most semesters in college.

Still, their decision could not fix an out-of-date immigration system. Despite our best efforts, there has been no way for us to regularize our immigration status. I lived on Long Island for over 12 years as an undocumented immigrant, until 2012, when President Obama announced his Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. I applied as soon as I could and obtained relief, which has since protected me from being separated from my U.S.-born children.

DACA also changed my life because it enabled me to get the social work job that I wanted to help others and pay for my own education. Every day now, I work to connect people with social programs and motivate them to pursue an education and a brighter future.

That’s why it’s been so shocking to hear Donald Trump and other Republican presidential candidates pledging to end DACA if they win the presidency. Messrs. Trump, Cruz, and Kasich have all opposed DACA and the President’s more recent immigration relief for immigrant parents (DAPA), and they’ve rejected any immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants like me. What’s worse, other candidates have supported Trump’s call for mass deportation — not to speak of the nasty words that Trump is using to stereotype my community, like “criminals” and “rapists.”

It leaves me wondering: Why do these men want to tear our families apart and prevent immigrants like me from contributing even more to our economy?

It also leaves me, like many others in my community, feeling more motivated to get out the vote this year.

I still can’t vote, even though my two children are US citizens. I wish I could become a citizen and cast my ballot this year to be a part of holding politicians accountable for calling us names and endorsing proposals that would devastate our families.

But, though I can’t vote, I know that this election will be an awakening moment for my community to raise its voice and be heard. Latinos and immigrants like me are ready to make sure that all of our neighbors who are eligible both register and get to the polls.

Last year, I led a team of more than 20 young people to get out the vote. It was rewarding to see young people becoming more involved and wanting to make a change in their community.

And these efforts worked: The public voter file showed us after the election that thousands of the people we engaged did, indeed, cast their ballots.

This year, all the anti-immigrant language from Republicans will motivate our community, and we’ll register and mobilize thousands of voters here in New York. With more than four million immigrants in New York, and our share of the vote increasing in every election cycle, I know that strong outreach in our communities will have an impact on the general elections for Congress, State legislature, and President.

I can see our community’s power growing even within my own family. This month, we’re celebrating my sister-in-law’s recent naturalization; she will be able to vote for the first time in 2016. Like the increasing number of legal permanent residents who are becoming citizens and registering to vote, she brings hope to our family, because we know that she can join the chorus speaking up for us in November.

I can’t vote this year, but you can bet that immigrants like me in New York are going to make sure that eligible relatives and neighbors like my sister-in-law register and head to the polls.

For that, I say: thank you Donald.

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/opi...-vote-him-out/

Sorry to say, I rarely voted and paid little attention to politics. That is until I found this site and others like it. In 2014, I registered and voted for the first time in years. I voted Republican. Now that I'm a Trump supporter, I re-registered as a Republican. He got my vote in the FL primary. I'm sure there are many more like me.

Now this is pretty smart. I re-registered to become a Republican to support Trump. I have yet to confirm it went through, but I'm way ahead of the deadline to register. It makes sense to expect voters to make party changes way ahead of the actual election to prevent people such as myself hopping to a party to support a candidate. But if the political parties were really worried about party hopping, then they would get rid of the state run primaries altogether and run the nominations themselves.

BREAKING: Donald Trump Pulls In HUGE Supporter … May Be Biggest Moment of Campaign

As the presidential primary season moves into New York, billionaire businessman Donald Trump just received a “Yuuugggeeee” boost to his campaign from a prominent and popular New Yorker.

According to the New York Post, long-time friend and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani stated publicly that he intended to vote for Trump in the April 19 primary election.

“I support Trump. I’m gonna vote for Trump,” Giuliani stated on Thursday, explaining that he expected Trump to garner more than 50 percent of the vote statewide, resulting in him gaining the bulk of the 95 delegates up for grabs.

“It’s a question of how much he gets over 50 percent. If he wins 70 to 80 delegates, Donald has a good shot of securing the 1,237 delegates to secure the nomination before the convention,” Giuliani said.

The former mayor admitted to liking and having met with Trump’s rival GOP contender, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, but was ultimately turned off from him following Cruz’s bashing of “New York values” earlier in the campaign season.

“It’s New York City. We’re family. I can make fun of New York. But you can’t!” Giuliani explained. “I know he was attacking liberal Democratic values … I know. I fought to change those policies in areas like welfare reform and policing, as did Mike Bloomberg. … There was a better way to say it.”

Giuliani also expressed concern over the increasingly personal attacks being lobbed back and forth throughout the GOP primary season and urged the two main candidates to lay off the attacks aimed at each others’ spouses.

He also made clear that he doesn’t necessarily support or endorse all of Trump’s positions on the issues, but finds himself in agreement with him on such topics as the economy, immigration and national security, also praising him for his negotiating skills that will result in better deals for the American people going forward.

According to the U.K. Guardian, the Trump campaign responded to the near endorsement from Giuliani with a statement that read: “Everyone has tremendous respect for Rudy Giuliani and this is such a great honor. Rudy knows me well and therefore it is an even greater honor than it would normally be.”

This is big news for Donald Trump, who no doubt relishes receiving the public vote of support from his good friend and still-influential New Yorker Rudy Giuliani.

Please share this on Facebook and Twitter to spread the word that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has stated publicly that he supports and intends to vote for Donald Trump in the upcoming New York primary election.

BREAKING: Donald Trump Pulls In HUGE Supporter ... May Be Biggest Moment of Campaign

By: Ben Marquis on April 7, 2016 at 1:47pm

"It leaves me wondering: Why do these men want to tear our families apart and prevent immigrants like me from contributing even more to our economy?"

Number One...you are not an immigrant...you are an illegal alien, undocumented migrant and criminal trespasser.

It leaves US TAXPAYERS wondering why your MOTHER & FATHER tore your own family apart. Ran like cowards, left their children, and illegally entered the United States! Leaves ME wondering why your own President does not step up to the plate, stop the corruption in YOUR Country and help his own citizens! Leaves ME wondering why you come to our Country and mouth off...but do not have the guts to go back to your Country and mouth off for your rights and freedom at your President's doorstep!

No DACA, No DAPA, No Amnesty, No Undocumented Migrants, No Anchor Baby, No Freebies.

Do not detain...deport within 24 hours. All minors caught at the border should be handed over into the care and custody of their Embassy for deportation. All others should be sent directly to our military base, processed and loaded up on military C130s and deported.

Originally Posted by European Knight

BREAKING: Donald Trump Pulls In HUGE Supporter … May Be Biggest Moment of Campaign

Rudolph Giuliani to Vote for, but Not Endorse, Donald Trump


4/7/16