Comments on: Closed Primary Elections Draw Scrutiny From Escambia’s Stafford, Other Elections Bosses

By: John K

John K — Mon, 09 Oct 2017 17:13:29 +0000

Primary elections should be open and we should have nonpartisan voter registration. If I’m a conservative, then let me pick my candidate. This should not be the former Soviet Union.

By: Jim Stanton

Jim Stanton — Fri, 06 Oct 2017 22:06:49 +0000

So the way some people think thousands of us whose jobs required us to be out of town on election day should not have had the right to vote because our jobs were civilian and not military. I had to be out of town for four to six weeks at a time on some jobs, but still I guess I shouldn’t have voted since I couldn’t go to my local polling place because I was several hundred miles away working and paying income tax so other’s could vote.

By: Sedition

Sedition — Fri, 06 Oct 2017 19:01:11 +0000

Primaries SHOULD remain closed. If you allow an opposing party to vote in the “others” primary, they will inevitably vote for the weakest candidate, ie. the candidate easiest for their own party’s candidate to defeat. It has been done/attempted before. Each party should be allowed to vote for their OWN party’s strongest candidate to put forward. Open primaries are a bit like allowing the opposing team into your locker room while plays and signals are being designed.
In the actual election, you are not constrained to your own party…vote for who you wish.

By: FaithinUS

FaithinUS — Fri, 06 Oct 2017 17:00:00 +0000

Considering the utter disdain the public currently holds for BOTH political parties, it makes no sense to shut out voters at any point in the voting process strictly due to party affiliation. If we had more INDEPENDENT members of congress in DC and State gov, we likely wouldn’t have the gridlock we’ve been seeing the past decade. Perhaps Repubs could be persuaded to stop lying to their ‘base’ so flagrantly, and Dems could quit all the pandering to ’snowflakes’ wanting special treatment.
How, though, will these Independent candidates ever get elected in a closed primary system?

By: Henry W Coe

Henry W Coe — Fri, 06 Oct 2017 16:38:47 +0000

We need Open Primaries. We have 205,846 registered voters in Escambia County. 41,486 have “No Party Affiliation” and are blocked from choosing representation during the Primary Voting Process because we do not have Open Primaries.
As a voter I should be able to choose any Political Affiliation as far as how I tag myself politically, but I should also be allowed to support any candidate I choose without regard to their Party Affiliation.
In our Representative Democracy we need diversity and we need everyone to participate in the political process. Anything short of that is akin to gerrymandering.

By: What if?

What if? — Fri, 06 Oct 2017 13:44:48 +0000

Maybe we could have a system where you are allowed to vote in one primary but not all, regardless of party affiliation. The Dog Lovers would have to think long and hard about voting in the Cat Lovers primary for a candidate who does not love cats, because that would mean they couldn’t also vote for the Dog Lover who loves dogs the most. But it would benefit the Dog Lovers who don’t find a candidate within their own party who they think loves dogs enough; they could vote for the Cat Lover who at least seems to hate dogs the least.

By: SW

SW — Fri, 06 Oct 2017 12:21:49 +0000

Confused voters shouldn’t vote. Confused indicates uneducated. Uneducated voters should not vote, either.

By: citizen

citizen — Fri, 06 Oct 2017 05:26:52 +0000

Ok David–makes sense.

By: Bryan Bethea

Bryan Bethea — Fri, 06 Oct 2017 04:08:15 +0000

I have to agree with David Huie. The purpose of a primary is for members of a political party to select its candidate for an office. Open primaries make no sense at all. Why should an independent or Democrat be able to select the Republican party’s candidate? Nothing about the primary system prevents non-affiliated voters from casting their ballots in the general election. If Florida moves toward open primaries then I would suggest the Louisiana or California-style jungle primary where the top two candidates, regardless of party, move on to the general election.

By: Suzie B

Suzie B — Fri, 06 Oct 2017 04:01:00 +0000

After working the polls for over 25 years, the repetitive issue we kept seeing was people who thought they could vote for a candidate in any party during primaries. They were very frustrated when the person they wanted to vote for wasn’t on their ballot. Some were new to Florida. Many would just walk out. Unfortunately, there was also confusion of young people thinking that if the chose NPA, they could vote for anyone because they “didn’t choose a party”. Misinformation being given to them somewhere. I hope people will continue to educate themselves. You would honestly be surprised at what some folks expect and do when they come to vote.