What is up with the Republicans voting in the Indiana Democratic Primary?

[Aloha Spirit]

[Aloha Spirit]

1. Edit--I almost forgot to put in "Other"!

[Skwmom]

22. How does Republican vote splitting down the middle have NO IMPACT?

The majority of Republicans voting for Clinton will be Republicans who will vote for McCain in the fall. If these SPOILERS did not vote, Obama's percentage of the overall vote would increase.

No matter the final percentage of Republicans per candidate, spoilers voting for Clinton will hurt Obama b/c it will decrease Obama's percentage of the overall vote.

[Aloha Spirit]

27. I agree, but the impact in relation to there having been a closed primary is what I meant there.

[whistle]

2. Can Independents vote in Indiana primaries also? If yes, it is called

...candidate manipulation

[Aloha Spirit]

6. Yes, Indiana is an open primary. However, party affiliation is changed when you vote.

http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P08/IN-D.phtml#0506

[whistle]

10. How does that matter? A republican or conservative independent

...goes in and votes for the democratic candidate least likely to hurt their real republican candidate sounds like manipulation to me. Does the same open voting hold true for the republican primaries in Indiana?

[Aloha Spirit]

12. Yep, same holds true for the (R) primary. I think it's one of those things where it is assumed that

the benefits outweigh the costs.

[faithfulcitizen]

24. Yes, but there aren't many dems in Indiana for it to really matter.

The republican primary was today too. But, there aren't any hotly contested contests going on, so MOST repubs will vote in the dem primary today. Here's how it works: You walk in, show ID, sign your name, check a box R or D, they hand you an R or D and you vote. There's no registration, you only vote in one or the other, and you choose again R or D next time. So, it really couldn't be easier for repubs to vote in our primary.

While I agree there are some legitimate repubs voting for Obama, I've heard about many of them voting for Hillary, aka "operation chaos" Couldn't be a more perfect state for it to happen.

[TahitiNut]

7. Again... Indiana has an OPEN Primary system

http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P08/IN-D.phtml

[whistle]

11. Does that apply for both parties?

[TahitiNut]

15. You mean 'all' parties? Yes.

:shrug:

[whistle]

19. Actually all parties, but we know that the two major parties are key

...what other parties are having primaries today in Indiana and what percent of votes do these other parties receive?

[Secret_Society]

3. Can someone explain allowing republicans to vote in the Dem primary?

Democrats should choose the Democratic nominee, shouldn't they?

[Jokerman]

5. Because it's an open primary.

Not defending it, that's just the way our primary law is written.

[whistle]

13. What is the rationale behind open primaries in a state like Indiana?

[Aloha Spirit]

18. I think the rationale for open primaries in general is to increase turnout.

[TahitiNut]

14. While the Democratic Party DOES have a rule limiting Primaries to 'Democrats' ...

... that rule is unenforceable in states that have adopted the 'secret ballot' interpretation that one's political affiliation falls under the umbrella of secrecy. In some states, the voter's partisan political affiliation is intentionally not tracked, either as a part of registration or electino participation.

[whistle]

17. That is not the case though in Indiana

[newmajority]

4. I would say it's a mixed bag

You may have some legitimately fed up Republicans voting for Obama. And there will be the Dildoheads voting for Hillary just to disrupt the process and/or try to get an easier opponent for Grandpa McLoon.

[Aloha Spirit]

8. This is what I'm thinking. I'm thinking the legit votes will favor Obama, the chaos votes will favor

Clinton, and it may all be a wash.

[Hepburn]

9. The Repukes will vote for the weaker Dem candidate ~~ Hillary...

...in hopes of helping McGrandpa defeat the Dems this coming Nov.

[whistle]

16. Or Obama on the theory that his campaign will implode

[Aloha Spirit]

20. If you missed it--the sad tale of one Democratic-voting Republican:

http://www.theindychannel.com/politics/16149886/detail.html

A woman running for a county post in Tippecanoe County missed a chance to vote for herself when she realized too late that she'd been given the wrong party's ballot.

Taletha Coles is seeking the Republican nomination for a county commissioner's seat against two others in Tuesday's primary. She went last week to a voting site to cast an early ballot.

Coles said she told workers she wanted to vote in the Democratic presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama but also vote for Republicans in the county races.

Voters, however, may only choose only one party's ballot for the primary.

Coles said she realized she had only Democrats listed on her ballot once she put her voter card into the machine, but by the time she told election officials it was too late to change it.

[kevinbgoode]

29. How could someone running for public office be that stupid?

[Aloha Spirit]

31. And you have so assume that some of these people actually get elected occasionally.

They could, in fact, be spending your tax dollars right now!

[karynnj]

21. It really bothers me that it is legal for a radio host to

push people to do things that are illegal. The fact that it is very hard to prove they are violating the law on an individual level - it is clear on a higher level that the majority of Rush's audience is very conservative and do not meet the Indiana criterion (having voted mostly democratic in the last election or planning to in the upcoming one). His telling them that - yeah, it's illegal, but not a felony and you aren't going to get caught is sickening.

The only saving grace is that I do think the superdelegates are not stupid. I would bet that they will mentally adjust any Clinton victories for this effect - though it will be hard to evaluate. I think HRC needs to denounce the effort.

[Aloha Spirit]

23. Yep, this cross-over voting is not all bad, but it's inexcusable to encourage these "stealth" votes.

[Tippy]

25. What I am hearing from family and friends in Indiana is

They don't like Obama because , he is black & he is a muslum... No amount of talking ane explaining to them has made a difference. We can only hope the Obama campaign regisered enough young people to keep this from being a landslide for hillary. I am from IL origionaly, and have found they get their facts mostly from the likes of tabloid news...reading the headlines while wating in check out lines.

[Aloha Spirit]

26. Wow, didn't know that. Do they believe in alien babies too? Just kidding!

[Tippy]

28. A Some of them probably do......

All kidding aside Hoosiers are a breed of their own...

[Aloha Spirit]

30. anybody else? Anyone in Indiana have a feel for what the Republicans are up to today?

[Aloha Spirit]

34. ..

kick for being topical and not about racism.

[Rwalsh]

32. IMHO, there's only two ways to stop crossover voting.

1. Abolish primaries and political parties. Put all the candidates on one ballot. Whoever gets the most votes is president. That's how it used to be done in the days of Washington and Jefferson.

2 Pass a law that says the party you are currently a member of is the party you have to stay with for the rest of your life. You can not ever for any reason switch parties.

[Aloha Spirit]

33. I agree, and I have no idea what should be done about crossover votes. Probably nothing.

[Aloha Spirit]

35. The majority was right--Clinton took the (R) vote 53/46. It was 11% of the vote. You guys are smart!