That's... weird

[cyrano]

Apparently, the Republican primary is no longer open in California.
But the Democratic and American Independant primaries still are.

Comments

Not so strange really

[miss-friday.livejournal.com]

It's the law. Below is from the California Secretary of State website:

History Behind California's Primary Election System

Closed Primary System
A "closed" primary system governed California's primary elections until 1996. In a closed primary, only persons who are registered members of a political party may vote the ballot of that political party.

Open Primary System
The provisions of the "closed" primary system were amended by the adoption of Proposition 198, an initiative statute approved by the voters at the March 26, 1996 primary election. Proposition 198 changed the closed primary system to what is known as a "blanket" or "open" primary, in which all registered voters may vote for any candidate, regardless of political affiliation and without a declaration of political faith or allegiance.

On June 26, 2000, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision in California Democratic Party, et. al. v. Jones, stating that California's "open" primary system, established by Proposition 198, was unconstitutional because it violated a political party's First Amendment right of association. Therefore, the Supreme Court overturned Proposition 198.

Modified Closed Primary System
California currently has a "modified" closed primary system. SB 28 (Ch. 898, Stats. 2000), relating to primary elections, was chaptered on September 29, 2000 and took effect on January 1, 2001. SB 28 implemented a "modified" closed primary system that permits unaffiliated ("decline to state") voters to participate in a primary election if authorized by an individual party's rules and duly noticed by the Secretary of State.
(Ch. 898, Stats. 2000)

Re: Not so strange really

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but I thought that the Republican party's individual rules still allowed that. I can't remember which year, but there was a year that there was an R candidate I voted for in the primary. And it looks like they are no longer offering that to unaffiliated voters.

Re: Not so strange really

[lil-m-moses.livejournal.com]

I don't think I was able to vote in primaries in CA until 2004, and the R was open at that time. They obviously decided to present a united front and refuse to listen to any but their own opinions between then and now.

Re: Not so strange really

[miss-friday.livejournal.com]

Or they don't want anyone else f**king up their primary. Smart really. All they have to blame is themselves for picking a loser candidate. Can't whine that all the non-affliated Democratic kids crashed the party (as it were).