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Written 02-22-2008: Cross
Voting may not be what you think it is.
I do not
know what else to call it but Cross Voting. I have been
hearing people say that they are going to vote the other party
so that they can get their real party candidate to win. If
you vote for the other person, then you have thrown your vote
away. Democrat or Republican, you should vote for the
person you support - period. (note:
Texas Primary is a two party system).
I think I
know where people are getting this stupid idea - from the media.
Out of the blue, I heard news commentators talking about people
doing this to hurt the other side. On the surface is sounds
like it will matter. Well it does matter to the side you
are voting for - they like it.
How it
hurts you is that in Texas, when a voter casts a ballot in one party’s primary, they are
affiliated with that party for a year (Texas Election Code Sec. 162) which is actually the next two years
because party elections are every two years. NOTE: This does not affect a voter's ability to vote for
candidates of either party in a general or a special election
like the final November election. However, a voter
cannot vote in primary or run-off elections for any other party.
For example, If you voted in the republican primary then you can
only vote in the republican primary runoff election.
Therefore,
in reality, if you think you are a republican and vote democrat
in the primary, you are a democrat for this election cycle.
You will miss out on helping get the person that you really want
to be in office on the final ballot - especially if there is a
run-off election. You also miss the chance to be a
delegate or officially be a part of the republican party.
The process
is simple - vote and vote for who you believe in. Even if
it is the lesser of two evils.
That's the way I see it - John
Gorena.
p.s. - To learn more about what the
primaries (or at least my point of view on how they work),
please click here.- JDG
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