Time to End the Whining About Crossover Voting in Ohio
March 24, 2008
Thanks to Anne Fisher at the Columbus Dispatch for an excellent op-ed today.
Illinois lawmakers rejected a proposal to create open primaries in the state. But before the March 4 vote, the bill’s sponsor said that open primaries “show the people that we trust the people.”
“Let’s have some faith in the voters,” continued state Rep. Raymond Poe, a Springfield Republican.
The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections doesn’t appear to share Poe’s faith and is, unfortunately, calling for a witch hunt.
Board members have ordered an investigation to determine whether any of the 16,000 Republicans in Cuyahoga County who switched parties on March 4 did so to back the Democratic candidate they presume would be weaker in a general-election race against John McCain. Those wascally wepublicans.
Some Ohio Republicans clearly switched sides that day. One of them bragged to me the weekend after the primary about voting for Hillary Clinton. “You know, she’s just not a nice person!” he said.
I gritted my teeth, knowing that his vote, and other illicit votes like his, had no real impact, given Clinton’s healthy margin of victory over Barack Obama in Ohio.
And I won’t fink out the crossover voter. Folks who make an abomination of the voting process must answer to their conscience or maker. Take your pick.
Using anecdotal evidence to ferret out the cheaters after the fact doesn’t make fiscal sense or resolve the problem.
Change the system instead. I know self-described independent voters who have been hitching a ride on the primary process in Ohio for as long as they could vote. Close the primaries completely, allowing only party members to vote, and have the parties pay for them; or open them all the way up by eliminating the public declaration of party fealty.
Ohio’s primary now is sort of open, meaning you can switch party affiliation whenever you want, but you must declare that affiliation and swear allegiance in writing to the party in whose primary you vote.
The only things missing are the Bible and a lightning bolt, but lying on the signed statement is a fifth-degree felony, which carries a maximum penalty of a year in prison and a $2,500 fine.
A spokesman for the Ohio secretary of state said no one there can recall a crossover prosecution.
Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett called the Cuyahoga County investigation “an embarrassment to the Democratic Party,” but Democrats don’t have a corner on disputes over an open-primary system. In 2006, conservative Republicans sued and won a closed primary in one Virginia district. The judge ruled that the open-primary law violated the Republicans’ constitutional rights by forcing them to let people from other parties vote.
If an incumbent is on the primary ballot in Virginia, he or she chooses the method of renomination. Most go with the open primary. In this case, the incumbent apparently had enemies in the party.
If no incumbent is involved, the parties may choose open, closed or convention-only nominations.
Ohio is among the majority of states — 29 — that require party registration. That doesn’t seem fair, given the number of independent voters who want (and it’s easy to understand why) a say in who gets on the ballot in November.
Time to get on with the election and stop complaining about how Hillary only won because so many Republicans crossed over to vote for her. Didn’t happen in sufficient enough numbers.
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Agreed. this is absurd. Hillary won Ohio. She would have done so w/o crossover voters. Its part of poltiics.
Ben - You’re right. The Obama bloggers need to get over it!
No kidding, all they do is complain about perceived slights…grow some backbone