Is it true? Can Independents vote in presidential primaries?—Nope!
A few months before each primary election, articles begin to appear claiming that independents can vote in the upcoming major party primaries. Voters only need to submit a form requesting a partisan ballot, or in some cases, simply choose a partisan ballot on election day.
The “Hybrid Primary” – no voter should ever receive a blank primary ballot.
The hybrid primary is an open Top-Four “qualifying” election – all voters and candidates are allowed to participate, and only the top four candidates advance to the general election. Unlike a “simple” Top-Four however, the hybrid primary uses a two-stage vote tally to incorporate the closed major-party “nominating” elections.
Posted by Paul Wells on March 16, 2019
Electing the president by popular vote without a constitutional amendment.
Electoral College Committees: The canvass of the popular vote for president could be very complicated. Rather than delegating authority for this process to representatives of the major political parties, small groups of election officials are appointed in each state to act on behalf of voters.
The Public Ballot: A Republican alternative to real election reform.
The public ballot proposal is not election reform – it’s exactly the opposite. The public ballot proposal perpetuates and safeguards the major party primaries as private political party functions. In spite of claims to the contrary, there is no attempt to eliminate voter or candidate exclusion. It’s a sham.
Ranked Choice: Eliminating vote splitting on the general election ballot.
Increasingly, “other” progressives are choosing not to participate in the Democratic primary as voters or candidates. “Ranked Choice Voting” (RCV) is a simple and effective method of consolidating all the progressive vote prior to the final vote tally in a general election.
Posted by Paul Wells on April 21, 2019
Exclusion:Too many voters can’t participate in the presidential primary.
A closed primary is a private election, limited to affiliated party members, who must declare their party affiliation in order to participate. All unaffiliated voters are excluded. All unaffiliated candidates are excluded.
Posted by Paul Wells on March 2, 2019