South Dakota Dems May Open Primary To Independents

[babylonsister]

Independent vote might benefit Barack Obama
By The Associated Press Sunday, March 09, 2008



A decision is expected soon on whether South Dakota Democratic Party leaders will open their June 3 primary election to independent voters.

"We've had some discussions about opening it up to independents," said Rick Hauffe, Democratic Party executive director. "The only problem is, we're very late in the game."

Figures as of March 1 show that 47 percent of the South Dakota's registered voters were Republicans and 37 percent Democrats. If the Democratic primary were opened to the 15 percent of voters who are independents, the Democratic primary would have more potential voters than the Republican primary.

And with the presidential nomination race between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton so close, even South Dakota's 23 delegates in its last-in-the-nation primary are seen as important.

Political watchers say Obama could have an advantage if independents can vote in the Democratic primary.

Much of the state party's leadership already supports Obama. Six of seven superdelegates, including party chairman Jack Billion, are in his camp.

more...

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2008/03/09/news/top/doc47d463f8637e7727897450.txt

[Benhurst]

1. Open primaries are a farce.

They are subject to manipulation by the opposing party.

Oh, wait! This is BushAmerica. There is no way our elections can be manipulated.

I apologize to our Republican friends for even harboring such a thought. I know they wouldn't even think of manipulating an election or doing anything which wasn't in the spirit of Truth, Justice and The American Way.