FISHERS, IN -- Ron Paul supporters beware. Obamaniacs tread lightly.
Voters turning out in droves to Indiana's once-in-a-long-long-while meaningful primary election could be breaking the law by casting a vote tomorrow.
Indiana law clearly states who is an eligible primary voter.
IC 3-10-1-6 Eligible voters
Sec. 6. A voter may vote at a primary election:
(1) if the voter, at the last general election, voted for a majority of the regular nominees of the political party holding the primary election; or
(2) if the voter did not vote at the last general election, but intends to vote at the next general election for a majority of the regular nominees of the political party holding the primary election;as long as the voter was registered as a voter at the last general election or has registered since then.
As added by P.L.5-1986, SEC.6.
Mike Kole, LPIN candidate for Secretary of State in 2006, points out the dilemma of being a Ron Paul idealogue and wanting to cast a vote for smaller government and civil liberties.
In his April 24th blog entry on Kole Hard Facts, Kole writes, "There is great temptation for many Libertarians to vote in the Republican Primary. It isn't because they are eager to cast votes for a slate of Republicans in the November General Election. It is so they can cast a vote for Ron Paul - the only Primary candidate remotely close to our views."
He continues, "Chances are great that the partisan Libertarians don't qualify to take a partisan D or R Primary Ballot, for either or both of the clauses found in the law above."
And he's absolutely correct.
This begs the question, why do we have such an unenforceable and inane law on the books? Democrat and republican legislators crafted the law, no doubt, in order to prevent exactly the type of crossover voting that is being encouraged by Rush Limbaugh's Operation Chaos. Clearly, one simply says, "I intend to vote for more (fill in the blank with party name) in the general election."
Libertarians select their candidates at a privately funded convention. That's at the local, state and national levels. Libertarians don't use tax dollars to do in-party business.
If Democrats and Republicans truly want to control who represents them on a ballot, why don't they take a page from the Libertarian handbook and actually use the system they established and pay for it themselves? Empower precinct committee members, ward leaders and county chairmen to exercise the authority they should have in selecting who represents their own party on a November ballot.
crossovers
I think it is ridiculous to think that voting in a crossover is bad. If I voted crossover, and the person I crossed over for didn't win, I would not likely be voting for anyone else in that party.
At the precinct I was at today, there were several voters turned away because they refused to swear to vote that way in November. It was my understanding from talking to one the pollworkers signing people in, etc. that they (the pollworkers) knew who these persons were voting for. At least nine had to leave without voting, she told me. Is that fair? I thought we voted a secret ballot, not a caucus where coercion and all such goes on and people have to state who they vote for. Very undemocratic, if you ask me.
It seems this is a bit extreme. First, there is intent, and then there is change of mind. How on earth does that law cover that? It seems it would be virtually impossible to enforce the law. There were many challenges today.
As it turned out the so called crossovers were pretty evenly divided between Hillary and Obama.
Katherine Carr
Indianapolis
Exactly the point
Katherine -- You nailed the point exactly. It is unfair. To craft election law paid for by tax dollars and restrict voters based upon a third party view is incredibly wrong.
The LPIN does not contend crossing over to vote is a bad thing. We simply believe part business should be handled by party members. Let the D's and R's select their candidates at their expense, as the libertarians do at conventions.
In the meantime, if one continues to support the old parties, they will continue to force unfair and inane rules on our society.