Subject:
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Re: Quiet in here
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Fri, 25 Feb 2000 21:09:46 GMT
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Viewed:
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464 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Bruce Schlickbernd wrote:
> In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Lindsay Frederick Braun writes:
>
> > I've never registered under a party, btw--is that registration
> > permanent (unless voluntarily changed), or does it have to be
> > reinstated each election term? Or does that vary from state to
> > state? (I know the method for assigning delegates varies; for
> > example, McCain got all 30 from Arizona, but the overall win in
> > MI only guaranteed the 10 at-large delegates to McCain--the
> > others are done by district. How does CA do it?) Perhaps
> > someone with more US-poli-sci savvy than I can explain it.
>
> In California, you remain a member of your party until you re
> -register. I don't know if it varies from state to state, it
> probably can, but I don't know if it actually does. California is a
> winner-take-all state: you win by one vote, you get ALL the
> delegates. One huge block vote.
In Texas, the system is very simple. There is no "register under a
party." You just register to vote, period. The registration is good
for two years and automatically renews. You can register by mail, by
picking up and filling a simple form that is available at the post
office, the grocery store, the tax office, practically anywhere.
You can vote in any party's primary, but once you vote in a primary,
they stamp it onto your registration card, so you can't vote in another
party's primary during that two-year period. Also, if there's a
runoff, you can't vote in the runoff for a party other than the one
whose primary you voted in the first time around.
In Texas, the judges are elected, so here in Houston, where there are
many judges, there are consequently many judicial races. Also, changes
to state law seem to have to be added via constitutional amendment.
(Forgive me if that's not quite right; I was born here but didn't
grow up here, so I missed out on the obligatory Texas history and
government classes.) It is not uncommon to have upwards of 30 to 50
different races to vote in, plus 15 or 20 local, county, and state bond
elections and propositions to decide.
Given that, it is not surprising that the local and state offices are
full of Republicans -- in the last governor's race, I figure a lot of
people just punched the straight-party "R" block to vote for Dubya, and
didn't get any farther down the ballot. (Yes, we do still literally
"punch" a ballot card here.)
I have voted in both major party's primaries during my time as a voting
adult here. This year, I am told, there are practically *no* Democrats
running for the local races, so the Democratic primary ballot will be
very small. This means that, if we want to have any say at all in
local government, we will have to vote in the Republican primary,
because by the time those races get to the November ballot, the
Republican candidates will be unopposed. This is as good an argument
as any for "crossing over" -- not that I consider it crossing over,
since it would imply some sort of allegiance with one party or the
other, and I don't claim any such allegiance.
My take on politics is that the local races are more important to me
than the national races, in terms of their effect on my life. And I
try to vote for (or against) a candidate or an issue, rather than a
party. Unfortunately, I think I am in the minority on both of these
counts.
--
Susan Hoover
Houston, TX
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Quiet in here
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| (...) In California, you remain a member of your party until you re-register. I don't know if it varies from state to state, it probably can, but I don't know if it actually does. California is a winner-take-all state: you win by one vote, you get (...) (25 years ago, 24-Feb-00, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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