Josh Dyck, Director at the Center for Public Opinion at UMass Lowell, opines on NY Reg deadlines

[Godhumor]

Last edited Wed Apr 13, 2016, 07:56 PM - Edit history (2)

Full disclosure, Josh is a good friend of mine back from his days living and working in Buffalo, NY.

Need to edit: Josh isn't some random guy on Facebook. He was the director of the UMass Lowell poll that was regularly posted here on the run up to New Hampshire. He is also one of the more well known New England political scientists working today.

Now, I disagree with him on closed versus open primaries, but I always respect what he has to say.

This is from his Facebook:

The other day I wrote this on a friend's page, "There is really no greater disease that infects our democracy than the belief by the clowns to the left, jokers to the right, and everyone in between that "the will of the people" means "people who think like me." If people had genuine interest in reform of political institutions when it was anything other than self serving, we would have far better political institutions."

Long closing deadlines in elections are meant to disenfranchise people and they work. They are absolutely stupid and inconsistent with the free availability of the exercise of the franchise. I know many of us are engaging in a bit of Schadenfreude with the Trump campaign and sort of hoping for its implosion, but let's not let our politics cloud our ability to see egregious voting laws. And by the way, many of the stupidest registration laws that I have encountered exist in supposedly progressive states like New York and Massachusetts.

How about we all agree on one-person, one-vote, and try to make it as easy as possible to let that happen? Belief in anything else is, to me, completely un-American.

----

So yeah, not a fan of the current rules.

[msongs]

1. I think we should be able to vote weeks after the election, in the interest of democracy and all

that.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. swing and a miss

[hellofromreddit]

4. Your joke reminds me of "CP time"

[KittyWampus]

3. Primary elections are for PARTY members. It's not a General Election. Your friend

doesn't come across as too bright.

[Luminous Animal]

5. How about Thurgood Marshall, he seemed like a pretty bright guy.

Deferment of a right, especially one as sensitive and essential as the exercise of the first duty of citizenship, can be tantamount to its denial. And any statute which imposes for eight or 11 months an absolute freeze on party enrollment and the consequent right to vote totally disfranchises a class of persons who, for quite legitimate reasons, decide to register closer than eight months to the primary date and those who, for equally legitimate reasons, wish to choose or alter party affiliation.

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/410/752/case.html

[Godhumor]

7. Josh is a good friend and did very well polling NH this year

I disagree with him on open versus closed primaries, but I would never call him not bright. He is one of the top political scientists in New England.

[Bluenorthwest]

8. NY registration deadlines take place in the year prior to the election. That's terrible.

We have a closed Primary in Oregon too but we don't fuck around with people like that. NY has a few such issues and their incredibly poor turnout in the last couple of elections have been the harvest. Is that really so super for NYers, to be in the bottom three for participation?

I don't get how any of them can be happy with being the Blue State with the lowest turnout rates. Only Indiana and Texas are worse.

So whoever runs elections people don't vote it are the folks who are not too bright. NY is an apathetic State of whiners with antique laws none of them follow.

[Luminous Animal]

6. Thurgood Marshall agrees with your friend.

Deferment of a right, especially one as sensitive and essential as the exercise of the first duty of citizenship, can be tantamount to its denial. And any statute which imposes for eight or 11 months an absolute freeze on party enrollment and the consequent right to vote totally disfranchises a class of persons who, for quite legitimate reasons, decide to register closer than eight months to the primary date and those who, for equally legitimate reasons, wish to choose or alter party affiliation.

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/410/752/case.html