Wednesday, March 7, 2007
If California's independent voters want a voice in next year's presidential primary, they better start paying attention to Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and the rest of the Democratic candidates.
While the nearly 20 percent of California voters who register as decline to state will be welcome in the Democratic presidential primary, they will be barred from casting a ballot for any of the Republican presidential hopefuls.
"Since 1999, the state party rules have said that only Republicans can participate in its presidential primary,'' said Jon Fleischman, a state party official who also runs a popular GOP political Web site. "The purpose of a primary is for party members to come together and decide who should represent them. If you don't want to be involved as a party member, why should you vote?''
California Democrats have a different view of the proposed Feb. 5, 2008, presidential primary. Decline-to-state voters can simply request a Democratic ballot, either by mail or at the polls, and have their choice recorded alongside those of the party regulars.
"There are a lot of decline-to-state voters in this state who tend to have Democratic ideals and values,'' said Roger Salazar, a spokesman for the state party. "We're happy to have them vote in our primary.''
Decline-to-state voters are the fastest-growing segment of the California electorate, particularly among young voters, and Republicans and Democrats desperately need the support of those independents to win in November.
No comments:
Post a Comment