Virginia GOP abandons ultra-moronic loyalty oath for primary vote
posted at 2:45 pm on December 1, 2007 by Allahpundit
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They’ve heard “the voice of the people” — specifically, Republican people, who’ve been calling and e-mailing to tell them what imbeciles they are. Here’s their excuse. I don’t get it:
Shaun Kenney, a spokesman for the state party, said it came up with the loyalty pledge because conservatives do not want Democrats to infiltrate GOP nominating contests to vote for other candidates. But GOP officials decided yesterday that they could forgo the pledge this year because Democrats are also holding their primary Feb. 12.
“It didn’t make sense to insist on a statement of support when you’ve got Democrats voting on the same day,” said Mary Gail Swenson of Sterling, a member of the central committee.
Would Democrats have been allowed to vote in a GOP primary held a week later if they’d already voted in the Democratic primary a week before? Presumably not. In which case, how is it better to have them voting on the same day? They’ve got to choose which primary they want to vote in, and since they’re already planning on going to the polls that day, it’s a simple matter of a ballot switch when they get there. The smart thing would have been to reschedule the GOP primary for a week later and let the Democratic primary voters disqualify themselves on the 12th. The turnout would give you a sense of how many Dems and independents might be holding back and waiting to vote in the GOP primary instead.
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Follow up question, even if they are not allowed, is he saying that they are anyway?
- The Cat
P.S. I think we all know the answer to this.
P.P.S. Yeah, he just can’t think on his feet and just came up with the best back pedal he could.
MirCat on December 1, 2007 at 2:49 PM
I honestly can’t make heads or tales of it.
Allahpundit on December 1, 2007 at 2:53 PM
Semi-O/T:
Which way do you think the State of Macaca will vote in ‘08, and will the ridiculously likely Warner Senate win influence said vote?
Damian G. on December 1, 2007 at 2:54 PM
they tried this, because they know non-republicans who would never be republicans are planning on voting in the GOP primary for Ron Paul. either because they like paul(mcGovernite’s) or to cause problems for the GOP. in Virginia anyone can vote in whichever primary they want.
jp on December 1, 2007 at 3:04 PM
If Hillary is running away with it, Dems could decide to vote GOP for obvious reasons.
the same token, RP is bringing out the fringes that never vote and aren’t Repubs and never will be. The scary thing is this group probably isn’t factored into polling….similar scenario to what Dick Morris says about Hillary bringing out single women who aren’t factored into polling samples because they never vote.
jp on December 1, 2007 at 3:08 PM
Allahpundit, I linked to this because of the MI primary. MI dems get no choice other than Hillary on their ticket..there is nothing stopping them from voting on the Republican ballots…It’s a foregone conclusion that the Democrats will be able to legally skew our election to their benefit.
Pam on December 1, 2007 at 3:31 PM
Don’t put it past the Paulnuts to stack the deck. If a while lot of newly registered primary voters select Ron Paul from districts ssurrounding college campuses we know why…
Theworldisnotenough on December 1, 2007 at 3:31 PM
That is exactly what I anticipate happening.
Pam on December 1, 2007 at 3:35 PM
In Virginia voters do not register by party. Any registered voter may vote in any primary.
Oldnuke on December 1, 2007 at 3:44 PM
So, therefore, it is just like MI, and in theory, the Democrats could legally screw the Republican ballot..
Pam on December 1, 2007 at 4:11 PM
I wouldn’t bet on that. Given two separate elections on separate days, I rather doubt that it would be legal to allow electors to vote on one day and not the other. What a state can do is prohibit voting for a candidate in one party’s primary and on the same ballot vote for a candidate in another party’s primary (in fact, that is precisely what Wisconsin does).
A very quick search through Virginia’s election laws does not address this, and given that the 2004 Presidential primaries were held on a single day, I cannot judge whether a split primary has ever been an issue there. Any Virginia residents able to shed light on this?
steveegg on December 1, 2007 at 4:19 PM
Or vice versa.
Oldnuke on December 1, 2007 at 4:26 PM
You’re only supposed to vote in one primary (I think) but it can be either one and you can write in a candidate.
Oldnuke on December 1, 2007 at 4:31 PM
One more thought, request actually, for an intrepid Virginia reader. The WaPo “helpfully” listed a bunch of other “loyalty oath” incidents involving the Republicans over the last dozen years, but didn’t list any involving the Democrats. I highly doubt that the ‘Rats would let this be the exclusive province of the Pubbies. I don’t have any long-term contacts there, so I’ll need your help in seeing whether they also sought “loyalty oaths” at primary time.
steveegg on December 1, 2007 at 4:38 PM
Which begs the next question; do the municipalities keep a list of who voted in the first primary to exclude those that did from the second?
steveegg on December 1, 2007 at 4:40 PM
Of course, but there is only going to be one name on the primary ballot, Hillary Clinton, so therefore why would a Republican waste their vote? Michigan will deliver Hillary her win, and the MI democrats get no choice in the matter.
I don’t know how VA does their primary ballots, but when I get my ballot, I must pick a party, and stick with it through the entire ballot or it gets tossed…
Pam on December 1, 2007 at 4:54 PM
Which is how it works in Wisconsin. Of course, all the partisan primaries are run on the same day here.
My question pertained to the instance of one party running its primary one day, with the other running it another day.
steveegg on December 1, 2007 at 4:57 PM
Oops..my mistake. But on that subject, do any states hold them on seperate dates? I’ve got to believe it is costly to do it that way.
Pam on December 1, 2007 at 5:08 PM
Since when has cost mattered to government? :-P
steveegg on December 1, 2007 at 5:08 PM
I’m skeptical. What evidence is there that many Democrats would want to vote for someone that they don’t like in the Republican primary? I know that sometimes elections are close, but still the idea that the Dems would vote consistently so as to injure Republican chances in a national election require far more unity and intelligence than I would attribute to Democrats (or Republicans or any other group for that matter). If I see Ron Paul or Denis Kucinich win a state, I’ll believe.
thuja on December 1, 2007 at 5:59 PM
They wouldn’t be voting for someone they like. Ron Paul could very well get quite a few votes from MI. The Democrats are having a primary on the very same day, but the only name on the ballot is Clinton, Hillary. The other candidates names could not appear on the ballot..Even a democrat can see the opportunity to turn their negative into a Republican negative.
Pam on December 1, 2007 at 6:04 PM
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