Pick a Party Before October 12

Party identification plays a major role in elections, no matter which election. This article in particular is about the primary elections for mayor in New York in comparison to New Jersey.  In most states, in our party system, we have either an open primary or a closed primary election. In New Jersey a person can decide which party’s candidate they vote for when they go to vote. This is an open primary election. In a closed primary election a registered voter has to register under a party to be able to vote in that party’s primary election. This article is a bit older but gives you a good look at New York’s version of a closed primary election. As the article points out the majority of people do really definitely decide who they will vote for, or what side they agree with (if they were undecided) until the last month of the election. This is a problem because in New York a person must register under that party by October 12. They make a good point that left up to the people to choose what party’s ballot they receive, they may chose the opposite party and vote for a weak candidate on purpose.

“Of 3.9 million active registered voters in New York City, 2.68 million are Democrats, 441,000 are Republicans and 666,000 have no affiliation.” The restrictions on New York primary election voters I believe have a huge impact on who not only wins the primary election and the general election but how well they represent the people of New York City.  666,000 registered voters have no clue who they want to win the election and a lot can happen in a month. That is potentially 666,000 people, who care about the people in charge of them, that do not get accurately represented because either they registered with a party before they had the chance to receive all the info they need to make a well informed decision or they missed the deadline to register before the 12 because they had no clue yet who they wanted to vote for. No one is perfect; it is quite easy to miss a deadline, especially one like this when the actual deadline is technically almost a whole month later.

Which election type do you believe will best serve to represent the people even with the drawbacks from that type? Why do you believe this will best represent the people’s choice? (Take in consideration closed and open primaries, not blanket primaries)

  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/05/nyregion/2013-new-york-primary-voting-requires-any-party-changes-by-oct-12.html