NC Primary- Do you have to be registered as a Dem??

[adoraz]

I keep hearing different stuff about this and I wanted to be sure. For the North Carolina primary, do you need to be registered as a Democrat to vote in the primary?

thanks

[Maddy McCall]

1. It is a closed primary.

[gateley]

3. I just posted it was an Open Primary --

was told that a couple of weeks ago. :(

I'll call again tomorrow just to be sure.

[Maddy McCall]

4. This source may be wrong.

I didn't dig too deeply.

http://www.fairvote.org/?page=1801

[gateley]

15. I spoke to the Board of Elections,

but I've been told incorrect info by the "official" source before. I'll double check tomorrow, and I encourage the OP to do it, too!

[adoraz]

16. thanks, I'll make sure to do that

[gateley]

23. See you at the polls!! nt

[RaleighNCDUer]

30. It's both.

Registered republicans cannot vote in the Democratic primary, but independents and non-affiliated can. I'm not sure what the time frame is that will allow someone to change his affiliation before the primary, but if you haven't changed it, you can't vote.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

52. The political parties each year can resolve to allow unaffiliated to vote in their primaries

this year, as usual, both GOP and DEM said "unaffiliated" may vote in either primary.

But of course, they cannot vote in both.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

55. uh, no republicans are going to vote for Hillary in NC

The republicans have several impt contests in our state, including the gubenatorial,
so they are going to vote mostly republican.

They don't neglect their own party's interest if there are other contests.

[gateley]

2. No --

I phoned because I'm "Uncommitted" or "Unaffiliated" or whatever that option is.

I was told it's an "open primary".

Here's their numbers: Main Number: [phone] or [phone]

[Jamastiene]

49. They probably meant it was open for you, being

unaffiliated. We are pretty laid back here in NC and will ALWAYS go for the easiest possible way to answer a question. That can sometimes get confusing too. I hope you understand it now. :hi:

[adoraz]

5. ugh see this is whats annoying

not even on DU we can agree...

[Maddy McCall]

7. No one's disagreeing. We are discussing it.

Are you too feeble to google yourself?

Jeez.

And you're welcome for the help I tried to give you. :eyes:

[adoraz]

10. no need to be an ass

I appreciate your help, I am just frustrated. I registered as independent because I had been hearing for months that it was open.

Now I am hearing online (so yes, I have looked it up) that
1. it is closed
2. it is open
3. it is open but closed at the same time

I know people who are 100% positive either way. I thought when I posted this everyone would agree on the same thing but as I said, there are different sources saying different things.

Different websites have told me different things.

[Maddy McCall]

18. I understand your frustration.

Everything I've read says the NC will have a closed primary.

You have until April 11 to register with the Democratic party.

Good luck! :)

[adoraz]

26. okay thanks for the help

looks like I will need to call up.

I still can't believe this stuff isn't available online somewhere from an official Democratic source. Do they expect everyone to call up the official offices about this kind of stuff?

I'm still glad I asked this here though, because even here people say different things so it tells me I need to find out straight from the source.

[Maddy McCall]

29. I know! I spent about 30 minutes looking around.

Nowhere was it clear.

I'd call my registrar to be sure. Good luck!

[adoraz]

31. thank you very much for your effort, I'll make sure to ask

sorry for calling you an ass before, I really had looked for a while and didn't find anything though.

Some other people in this thread are looking at me like its a crazy question and crazy to expect to find such basic information from an official source on the Internet lol.

[Maddy McCall]

38. It's been touchy in here all day.

I'm sorry I fired back.

:hug:

[Jamastiene]

46. The North Carolina State Board of Elections is the best

possible place to start.

Unaffiliated voters can vote in either the Democratic OR the Republican Primary but not both. That's just for the record under normal circumstances. We all know the Republicans already have their candidate chosen as of right now.

Here is a link to the correct answer:
http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/NCSBE/Voting/voting_guide.html

Instructions on how to find the answer to your specific question (and some others you may have):
Download the 2008 Primary Election Voter Guide (at the above link)
Go to page 3 and read.
The answer is right there.
And yes, it is the O-fficial web site. Note: The web site URL ends in nc.us (That means that it is "for reals.")

Btw, Maddy was only trying to help. Thank you for apologizing to her. Tempers are way way way too short in this forum. It is good to see someone actually bother to apologize.

And, Welcome to NC. :hi:

Btw, in case you want to read more on the NC SBOE web site, here is the link:
http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/NCSBE/index.html

It is very informative. There is even a section where you can look at your own voting record from 1992 until the present. Wow, I didn't realize I had voted that many times. (We've had a lot of ballot initiatives, local county referendums, state referendums, and other off year/off time votes)

[JayFredMuggs]

19. Do you have a telephone?

Find the number of your town hall, pick up the phone, call them during business hours, and please, please please, don't rely upon the internet and your computer to be 100% CORRECT.

ok? Here's the rule, the internet doesn't mean you can't call your town hall, county court, state house, whatever.. phones still work, and you can still get you questions answered in your own state.

Don't waste our time asking techinical election questions about your state, here on the DU.......we are a forum for exchange of ideas, not solutions to your personal problems of ignorance of the rules of your own state primary.

Sorry, but I am getting tired of people wasting our time here with their personal election ignorance problems.

[adoraz]

25. oh, be quite

look, there is no need to be an ass about this. this is not an ignorant problem. this is not a waste of a question, it is a legit question and if I don't ask here I don't know where to ask (besides the town hall).

I was assuming that there was an official site out there by the Democratic party which confirmed whether or not it was closed. This is the Internet, that stuff should be available. If there was a place which knew about an official source online, it would be here. People here know more than me about this kind of stuff, which is why I asked.

People shouldn't NEED to call the town halls, so I posted here first. We live in the year 2008, this stuff should be available online. It looks like I might need to call however, which is pretty ridiculous for basic information.

Once again though, don't talk to me that way. Just leave this thread with your ignorance and bad attitude, okay?

[quakerboy]

42. From The North Carolina Secretary of state website

http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/NCSBE/Voting/VoterGuide.pdf

Voters who are affiliated with a Party must vote in the primary of the party they are affilliated with.

Voters who are not affiliated with a party may vote in a party primary, as long as the party allows it. at this time both the Republican and Democratic partys allow unafilliated voters to vote in their primary.

And you have untill april 11th to change your party afiliation.

So, if you are a registered pub, you can choose McCain or McCain.
If you are a registered dem, you can choose Hillary or Barack
If you are independant, you can choose any of the above.

[Jamastiene]

47. Bingo

It is easy information to find, actually. It's all right there on the State Board of Elections web site for any state.

Here is a complete list:
http://usgovinfo.about.com/blstateelection.htm

Those are the official places to check that information out.

[Jamastiene]

50. We do not even agree on FACTS.

Right now, you could post that the sky is up and get lam blasted by someone on here. I guarantee it. Tensions/tempers are rather frayed right now. We don't agree on anything. If you don't believe it, just ask us. We'll all give you a different answer. Of course, now that you have posted this question, this thread, you don't need me to tell you that. You KNOW it now. Welcome to DU. Ain't we lovely, sweet and friendly right about now? :eyes: :sarcasm:

[Breeze54]

6. Did you look it up? What did the state say?

:shrug:

[pkz]

8. NC Dem website

2008 Democratic Primary

The North Carolina Democratic Primary is May 6th, 2008.

The last day to register to vote on election day: Apr. 11
Absentee Voting: Mar. 17 - Apr. 29
One Stop Absentee Voting: Apr. 17 - May 3
Note: You can register to vote and cast your absentee ballot at the same time during the April 17th to May 3rd period at a One Stop Voting location.

In North Carolina, unaffiliated voters are permitted to vote in the Democratic primary.
However, if an unaffiliated voter chooses to vote in the Democratic primary, he or she cannot vote in a Republican runoff (or second primary). Similarly, an unaffiliated voter who votes in a Republican primary cannot vote in a Democratic runoff.

http://www.ncdp.org/2008+Democratic+Primary+North+Carolina

[adoraz]

11. okay thank you very much for that

[Labors of Hercules]

9. If you are unaffiliated, you can vote in the Dem Primary...

but not in the Republican primary. People have until April 11th to change their party designation.

Obama field offices are open now and Hillary's will open this week.

[adoraz]

12. okay so basically that means...

Dem primary is open,
Rep primary is closed?

That would explain a lot then.

[Breeze54]

13. No, it means if you vote in one, you can't vote in the other.

At least that's the way I understood it upthread.

If you choose to vote in the Rethug primary, then you can't vote in the Dem primary and visa versa

[adoraz]

14. okay I see, I was just reading the post differently

thanks

edit: sorry not your post, the other person's.

[Breeze54]

17. "However, if an unaffiliated voter chooses to vote in the Democratic primary,

However, if an unaffiliated voter chooses to vote in the Democratic primary, he or she
cannot vote in a Republican runoff (or second primary). Similarly, an unaffiliated voter
who votes in a Republican primary cannot vote in a Democratic runoff."

[NC_Nurse]

20. Dem or unaffiliated. If you are registered as a Republican or Libertarian or

"Other" you have to fill out a new form and change it by April 11th. You CANNOT change it at
the early voting places, even though you can register there.

[adoraz]

33. thank you

I'm still going to call up though since people are disagreeing over this. Once I get my answer, I will post it here for others to see.

[littlebit]

39. If you are registered unaffiliated

you can vote in either primary. You do not have to be registered as a democrat or a republican. Now if you are a registered republican you can not vote in the democratic primary. If you are a registered democrat you can not vote in the republican primary. That is the correct answer for the primary here in NC.

[TheDoorbellRang]

41. Just to add to confusion, they have what's called a modified primary

I just checked out TheGreenPapers, which is a site that has lots of these little details. They list NC as having a modified primary, and offer this explanation of the process:

Thus, the "Modified" Primary/Caucus-- the "modification" being such that such a primary or caucus is neither completely CLOSED (restricted to Party members- at least in one of the two major parties) nor OPEN (allowing members of a major party to vote in the Primary of the other major party).

In the more common version of the "Modified" Primary, persons registered with one of the major parties usually may only vote in that party's primary: generally, Democrats may only vote in the Democratic primary, while Republicans may only vote in the Republican primary. However, unlike in a Closed Primary or Caucus, Independents may choose to vote in either party's primary - though there are many States utilizing this Modified Primary/Caucus in which there are provisions which automatically make an Independent a registered member of whichever party the primary of which he or she has chosen to vote in: this tends to keep the number of Independents who might take advantage of their privilege to vote in a Modified primary or caucus relatively low.

In some Modified Primary/Caucus states, members of one major party ARE permitted to vote in the Primary or participate in the Caucus of the other major party; however, the usual practice in such cases is such that a Democrat voting in the Republican primary or caucus- or a Republican voting in a Democratic primary or caucus- automatically changes one's party affiliation as well; this has tended to reduce such "crossover voting" between the two major parties in those Modified Primary/Caucus states which practice this automatic change in party registration, even while allowing members of one major party to participate in the other major party's "delegate selection event" of their own volition- for many registered party members might very well think twice before casting a primary vote which would have such an impact on their party affiliation (making this particular variant of the Modified primary/caucus, in fact, more of a "modified closed primary or caucus" than a "modified open" one in its actual operation!).

In recent Presidential Election cycles, there has been a trend toward allowing, in what would otherwise be considered OPEN Primary/Caucus states, the major parties to only count those votes cast by registered party members (and, perhaps, Independents ) in determining the allocation of pledged delegates to the party's National Convention amongst the contenders for that party's Presidential Nomination (in effect, tossing out the votes of registered members of the other major party- if not also those of Independents as well!). It is, therefore, quite possible- in a state which has so altered its otherwise Open Primary/Caucus- that a presidential contender might not receive the full complement of National Convention delegates to which he or she would have been entitled had ALL the votes (not just those of registered party members and, perhaps, Independents) cast in his/her Party's primary or caucus been utilized to determine (however directly or indirectly) the make-up of that state's delegation to the party's National Convention; the result of such a scenario might, someday, very well be a legal battle in the courts and/or a floor fight (with a concomitant roll call vote) at the National Convention- or, perhaps, both!- over just how many Convention delegates presidential contenders should be entitled to have pledged to them as a result of such an OPEN primary or caucus effectively turned into a MODIFIED one: this would be more especially probable where the differences in the makeup of the delegation(s) from one or more states between that derived from counting ALL votes (even those cast in a state's primary or caucus by members of the other major party) and that derived from counting only those the state party has determined to be valid would be seen to be the difference between a given contender's winning or losing in the Presidential Nomination balloting during the Roll Call of the States at the party's National Convention... stay tuned should just such a scenario (however unlikely) ever develop over the pledges of a National Convention delegation from an otherwise OPEN primary State!

There are other states that have this too, but I don't remember which ones offhand. This is the site's generic description of the process so you'll probably still need to get specifics with a phone call, but hope this helps clear things up a little. :hi:

[Thickasabrick]

21. Ok..new question. I'm a registered Democrat but I lost my card -

does that matter?

[NC_Nurse]

22. No. Do you know where to vote? You should be on their list.

[Thickasabrick]

34. Yes and thanks so much - someone stole my wallet and I never

got that replaced.

[Jamastiene]

53. What card?

Here in NC we don't need no stinking card to vote and we don't have to count how many bubbles there are in a bar of soap (true story, happened in another state years ago) nor do we have to stand on one foot, rub our bellies, and pat our heads at the same time. That's a relief for me, because there is no way I could do that on the best of days. :P

All I have ever had to do was tell the nice lady my name and she puts a check mark beside it in her fancy book ( a ledger that is stored in the Court House normally) and hands me a ballot and a pen. I vote and put the ballot in the machine and it sucks it in and sends it off to wherever they count the votes. That last part was a joke, btw. The machine reads the votes much like the old "fill in the bubble with a #2 pencil" tests they gave us in school. It's called Optical Scan. We have both that and electronic voting here in NC. Personal tip: I'd stick with the Optical Scan method. There are rumors that the electronic voting can be and probably is rigged, and those rumors just may be true.

[JayFredMuggs]

24. Why do people waste our time here with personal questions that could well by answered

by their taking some initiative in life and picking up the phone?

I sincerely hope all Democrats have that much initiative to find answers for themselves. Not to rely upon websites to give them answers to personal issues.

[adoraz]

27. get a life bud instead of trolling my thread

I already responded to your post, but apparently you are too stupid to read it.

This stuff should be available online, and it is far easier to get information online. I was assuming there was an official source that DU would know about, so I asked. It SHOULD be easy to find this stuff online. This is a VERY basic question, which is why I can't believe there is no official source online.

As I have said though, I will now call up since apparently there is none.

Get it? Or do I need to explain it to you again?

Some people on the Internet are so ignorant.

[Lex]

37. you are perfectly fine to post the question here

so don't worry about it :)

some people are just jerks

[housewolf]

28. Or more appropriately posted in the North Carolina state forum here...

where someone might actually know the answer

[adoraz]

32. sorry I wasn't aware there was a forum like that here

[housewolf]

35. No prob... I see you haven't been here very long

There are a wealth of discussion forums on DU.

If you go to the "Latest" page, towards the top is a section titled "My Forums". You should see a link there titled "State & Country Forums". If you click on that, you'll see that there is a forum for each state.

If you click "Customize My Forums", you can customize the "My Forums" section on the "Latest" page to give you direct links to any of the forums/groups that you'd like to have quick access to.

Check it out, there's a ton of great stuff here on DU.

[adoraz]

40. very cool, usually I go straight to this forum

I rarely visit other pages on this site (I have the GDP bookmarked), so thats why I didn't see the other stuff. Thanks for the information. :)

[Lex]

36. Why are people such snide assholes

for no apparent reason?

[Kool Kitty]

43. The poster asked an honest question and

was looking for some help. There's no shame in that. Jesus Christ, I'm sure it wasn't meant to put you out. You don't want to help, don't answer. Find another thread that's more to your liking.

[musicblind]

44. I think it probably has to do with the old saying

if one person asks a question, there are ten people who have that same question but are afraid to ask. Plus, some people really don't like using telephones. I know I am one of those people. I wear a hearing aid, and would rather get my info either in person, or in readable print. So you never know. While you are right, some people become TOO dependent on easy information, I rely on the internet to find out all kinds of things. Just today, I was learning how to play harmonica on the internet! Much fun :)

[Jamastiene]

45. In Richmond County, the rule has always been that you have to be

a registered Democrat to vote in Democratic Primaries. I don't know if they have changed it. If they have, I sure haven't heard anything about it.

[Jamastiene]

48. Btw, was it really necessary to have a flame war when

someone was only asking for voting information? Really, we should stop and look at ourselves, DUers. This ain't who we are normally. Why be that way now? :shrug:

[jackson_dem]

51. It doesn't matter. Obama registers rethug ringers under his "Dem for a day" scheme anyway

;)

[Jamastiene]

54. This thread certainly could use some good humor.

:P :hi:

[jackson_dem]

58. Yes

I am glad to see a reply like yours "present" in this thread. ;)

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

56. Limbaugh is holding off on his Operation Chaos in North Carolina

according to his Friday announcement. So that means less republicans
voting for Hillary.

Local GOP have asked him to stop encouraging republicans to change party affiliation.

Further, there are some GOP primaries that the party leadership wants some turnout in.

[jackson_dem]

57. Is Limbaugh why Obama's margins over indies declined dramatically too?

P.S. Obama won rethugs 53-46 in Texas and tied in Ohio. If it weren't for rethugs he would have lost be even more in those states (14 and 7)...