vote if you're not a democrat, too

[jadelennox]

(crossposted to somervillemass)

Here's a frequently misunderstood part of Massachusetts election law: if you are registered to vote with a party affiliation, you can only vote in that party's primary.  But if you're registered to vote without a party affiliation (unaffiliated or independent), you can vote in any party's primary.  This means that if you consider yourself Green, Libertarian, or Republican but happen to be registered as an unaffiliated voter, you can still vote in the Democratic primary tomorrow.

Most of the contested races are in the Democratic primary.  And be aware of the political realities of living in Massachusetts: the Democratic primary is the election which will really decide who ends up in the State House.  Don't like any of the Democratic candidates in your district and want to vote your conscience?  Great!  Vote for the least of all the evils in the Democratic primary, and then vote for your favorite candidate in the November election.  At no point are you voting against your conscience.

And after that public service announcement, here are some endorsements:

The Boston Phoenix endorses Carl Sciortino for the 34th Middlesex District, which comprises neighborhoods in West Somerville and South Medford; and Avi Green for the  26th Middlesex District, which takes in parts of Cambridge and Somerville.  Read the editorial for their reasons.  Note that Avi Green has pledged not to vote for Finneran, so if that's an issue for you, he's a good candidate (or a bad one, I suppose, if you like Finneran).

Robert Reich endorses the same two candidates.  His complete list of endorsements:

• Melissa Murgo, challenger, 16th Worcester House District -- http://www.MelissaMurgo.com/
  
• Carl Sciortino, challenger, 34th Middlesex House District (Somerville/Medford) -- http://www.ElectCarl.org
  
• Avi Green, challenger, 26th Middlesex House District (Cambridge/Somerville) -- http://www.AviGreen.org
  
• Paul McGeary, for State Senate, First Essex and Middlesex -- http://McGeary2004.com/
  
• Peter Vickery, Candidate for Governor's Council -- http://www.VoteVickery.com/
  
• Ed Augustus, open seat, 2nd Worcester Senate District -- http://www.EdAugustus.com/
  
• Katherine Clark, challenger, Middlesex & Essex Senate District -- http://www.ClarkForSenate.com/
  
• Monica Palacios-Boyce, open seat, 1st Hamden House District -- http://www.MonicaForStateRep.com
  
• Sen. Pam Resor, incumbent, Middlesex & Worcester Senate District -- http://www.PamResor.com/
  

Comments

[georgy.livejournal.com]

It's all about Carl Sciortino.

Thanks for posting this!

[jadelennox]

Sure! It's frustrating seeing all these important races and not living in a district where I can affect them. Then again, it's good that my representatives are already awesome. ;)

[tsuki-no-bara.livejournal.com]

i didn't know that about being able to vote in a primary even if you were registered unaffiliated. cool. (i'm a registered democrat, but still.)

[rmd.livejournal.com]

you register as a democrat as you walk in the polling place, then re-register as unaffiliated again on your way back out.

[nowalmart.livejournal.com]

Can you change your party affiliation that easily? As a registered Libertarian I would really like to vote tomorrow (and actually make some difference, since I live in the 34th Middlesex House District.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Yup. I'm registered unenrolled (=massachusetts-speak for "independent") and I just walk in there on primary day, ask for whichever ballot I happen to find more interesting this year, vote, and leave (and I automagically go back to being registered Independent). So it's even easier than rmd indicated.

I'm not sure how it works if you're a registered member of an actual party, but hey, you could always try it and see.

[jadelennox]

No, a little bit of checking and it looks like you can only do that if you're unenrolled before the primary. I don't know how long beforehand you can change or designation, though. A day? A month?

Interestingly, it looks like the enroll/unenroll thing only applies for presidential elections. From the League of Women Voters: At the time you register, you may choose to enroll in a political party, or you may choose to be unenrolled in any party. However, in a primary election, you must choose the ballot of the party in which you are enrolled. Voters unenrolled in any party may choose the primary ballot of any party.

Unenrolled voters who vote in a state primary remain unenrolled. The voter does not become enrolled in the political party of the ballot chosen. If you wish to remain unenrolled, you will not need to complete a party change form after voting in a state primary.

However, in Presidential Primaries only, an unenrolled voter who votes does become enrolled in the party whose ballot he or she selected. The voter must fill out a change of enrollment form after voting to become unenrolled.

[uberjay.livejournal.com]

Heh, that's interesting. Can you actually get away with that? (I'm registered green, and I'd like to cast a vote for Carl)

[being-homeless.livejournal.com]

so... i'm registered green-rainbow. that means I cannot vote at all since we have no greens running against other greens?

I'll probably be at the polls holding signs for Carolina Johnson (http://www.carolinajohnson.org). She's running for State Rep against Alice Wolf in 25th middlesex. (alice is pro-finneran).

[hvanaels.livejournal.com]

I've voted in primaries where there's only one (or none) candidate per race(*). It might not have as much "meaning", but it does still show support for the candidate(s) and party.

(*) That was for the last MA gubernatorial primary - I only learned about the whole 'independents can vote in primaries' bit the morning of the election. So, after completely ignoring the Democratic race b/c I figured I couldn't vote in it anyway, I decided I'd rather support the Green party than 'random Democrat'. Plus, it was kind of entertaining to watch the election volunteers try to figure out how to deal w/ the Green party ballot - it wasn't the same size as the other two and they had to have the observing officer physically open the ballot box to put it in b/c the auto feeder thing wouldn't take it.

[being-homeless.livejournal.com]

haha! I love the ballot story! :)

[hyperliminal.livejournal.com]

Just adding one more endorsement of Avi Green. I've known him for over 4 years in various political and community contexts, and he has struck me as one of the true folks who are honestly in politics to help make things better for the average person. He will be accessible to his constituents in a way Tim Toomey never would.

Another of those folks is my own rep, Pat Jehlen, who is awesome, but also happily unchallenged in the primary. Not that that'll stop me from voting for her, or supporting her in November against her Republican challenger.

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

I noted this in the followup post about election stuff, but I'm planning to host a house party for Pat Jehlen around mid-October. She will be in attendance (she's trying to get people to hold low-key house events where she can meet constituents and talk with them). I'll post about it when details are finalized, but you and anyone who reads this is welcome to show up.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

Bay Windows is endorsing Toomey rather than Green, mostly because Toomey voted against banning same-sex marriage, and it's a good message to send to the legislature that people who voted against that can (and will) be re-elected, and that they'll get the support of the GBLT community.

Their editorial is at http://www.baywindows.com/news/2004/09/09/Opinion/Editorial.Sept.14.Massachusetts.Primaries.Races.To.Watch-713373.shtml (http://www.baywindows.com/news/2004/09/09/Opinion/Editorial.Sept.14.Massachusetts.Primaries.Races.To.Watch-713373.shtml)

(In my district, I'm just looking forward to voting against Ciampa in the morning.)