Before we start a conspiracy theory for NY, understand that out of 10.7M voters, 2.9M are ineligible

[Godhumor]

27% of all active voters in NY were not registered to the Democratic or Republican Party at all or did not register in time. 27%.

Whether this is wrong or not is a different discussion, but the reason people will be turned away at the polls (They can not even file a provisional ballot) is because they missed deadlines.

Number taken from:

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/12/new-york-primary-deadlines-voter-registration

[Agschmid]

1. The system does seem to suck a bit, not going to lie.

[Godhumor]

8. Yeah it is a staggering number. Way too high for my tastes, too n/t

[Bluenorthwest]

14. NY has by far the earliest deadlines for Party changing of all the closed Primary States, the only

one with a deadline that occurs in the previous calendar year. That does in fact suck. And it's not just that it sucks for a candidate like Bernie but for any candidate that draws new voters. When a non voter is inspired to vote they should be able to do so without undue lead time and regulatory hurdles. I'm ok with closed Primaries, but with more options for later registration.

[Agschmid]

15. Yup.

[JonathanRackham]

2. There's a bunch of non D or R party options.

Green, Working Families, Liberal, Conservative, Libertarian, Communist.................. some people chose to be registered to vote and choose "no affiliation" as their option.

I like the European options of multiple parties (more than 2) in an election.

The two party system has really burnt out a lot of people on politics. How many people who are registered voters just "don't vote" as a (bad) option?

[Godhumor]

4. But if they're registered in any of those, they can't vote in the D or R primary

Only in their own.

[JonathanRackham]

11. Understood.

I think the parties should raise a qualified candidate within their own party.

The problem is the two primary parties are too large. That's good and bad.

I would like to see debates between candidates where the media is locked out and only members of that party are allowed to participate, ask questions and possibly throw tomatoes.

[SidDithers]

3. "provisional ballot". DAMN YOU AUTOCORRECT!!...

Sid

[Godhumor]

5. Oh good lord, thanks. N/t

[geek tragedy]

6. do the actual numbers rise above statistical noise though?

lots of anecdotal accounts, but you'd have to be talking hundreds of thousands to move the needle in a big way

There are around a half million Independent/Green/WFP registered voters. How many of them want to vote for Sanders but failed to register in time?

[Godhumor]

7. That's my point, there are a lot of people who cannot vote

But are unaware that they can't. It is not a conspiracy theory, it is just falling afoul of the rules.

[geek tragedy]

10. Gotcha. Do they keep track of late registration changes? nt

[Godhumor]

12. Yes, and to try to clarify for people they're sending out registration cards

That ID which election you're able to vote for, the presidential or the local and state (In September). Of course, even that is a conspiracy theory (You can see a thread on it in a certain candidate's group under a dirty tricks headline).

[B Calm]

9. Even behind the Hoosier Iron Curtain I could have voted for a republican. There needs to be

reform nationwide!

[blm]

13. IMO, it should be a uniform process, easily understood by all.

Those who don't understand the process or never bothered to participate and change the process are the ones who scream the loudest these days.

[HughLefty1]

16. Yeah I read that 2 of Trump's kids are registered independents

so can't even vote for their own Father. Most people are not thinking of checking their registration the year before the primary. Seems crazy.

[apnu]

17. This is why ground games are important.

Its hard on the candidates because there is no uniform primary process. Each state is different, however the campaigns must have a ground game if they want to win.

Bernie's ground game in the states is lacking compared to Hillary's. It is. He's winning in places where ground games can be weak, the ones where its loose and people can just show up and do it, but all the other places he struggles. He's not been in the Democratic party for decades like Hillary and hasn't had the opportunity or understanding of how to wheel and deal with local party officials.

Trump has the same problem, only its far worse than Bernie.

Bernie is exciting people and that's great. Bernie has made far more progress than anybody imagined six months ago. That is also great. But Bernie chose to play in this system, the way it is now. It may not be just, but it is the system he accepted to work with when he threw his hat in the ring.

And yes, the work is much harder for Bernie than it is for Hillary. He has to find ways to catch up if he is going to pull this off. And he may not in the end, but that's OK. He's revved up the left and he's shown Hillary and the Democratic party there is vim and vigor on the Left and he has dragged Hillary to the left on a lot of things. All of that is way more than I hoped for.

So, as far as I'm concerned, Bernie already won. Even if Hillary wins the DNC primary, Bernie's still a winner.

[cloudythescribbler]

18. Another reason Sanderistas at the Convention MUST as a bloc oppose "closed" primaries ...

... and demand (with the likely support of some Hillary delegates I expect) categorical opposition to ALL closed primaries and caucuses in the Democratic Platform. Along with a more (relatively) progressive wing Democratic-friendly leadership and structure of the party (including but not at all limited to dumping DW Schultz) and more democratic determination of debate schedules, these are important process issues no matter who is the nominee.


The Rainbow Coalition made process issues central in the 80s (eg no dual primaries) and that was an essential part of its platform and demands

There are also a number of issue concessions of a SPECIFIC nature that should be put in the platform, even though obviously the bulk of the platform will necessarily reflect the politics of whoever wins the nomination