Re: Registered Independants

Tim, I wanted to point out that as an unaffiliated voter in California, I may still vote in the primary elections. California currently has a "modified" closed primary system. Voters registered with a specific party can only vote for candidates in that party. Voters who are registered as Decline to State (the equivalent to Independent in other states) can participate in the primary elections if the specific party allows it.

For example, in the 2004 presidential primary election, the Democratic, Republican and American Independent parties allowed Decline to State voters to participate in their primaries. The downside to this system is that not all parties allow unaffililated persons to vote. In the upcoming election on February 5, only the Democratic and American Independent parties are permitting those registered as Decline to State vote.

As a side note, if I am reading the chart correctly that I found on the California Secretary of State website (http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/ror/60day_presprim/hist_reg_stats.pdf), there are 35 counties with a majority of Republican voters and only 23 with a majority of Democratic voters; it's an interesting statistic as California is known to be so liberal.

I also know that in Massachusetts, you can be registered as "Unenrolled" (same as Decline to State or Independent) and participate in the presidential primary election. On election day, you must register with a party when you walk into the polling place. You can then unregister with that party and regain Unenrolled status on your way out. Essentially, all the workers do is mark which party's ballot you receive.

Many states do have closed primary systems and I would agree that in those states, it is better to register with a party even if you don't fully agree with its positions.