[conspire] OT: Deadline to change CA voter registration is May 23rd

[Rick Moen]

Non-partisan reminder in the public interest:  

If you're a California resident & US citizen, you have until Monday, May
23rd to register to vote or alter your political party affiliation.


This has come up in the news recently:
http://static.latimes.com/american-independent-party-california-voters/

  With nearly half a million registered members, the American
  Independent Party [AIP] is bigger than all of California's other minor
  parties combined.  The ultraconservative party's platform opposes
  abortion rights and same sex marriage, and calls for building a fence
  along the entire United States border.

  [...] A Times investigation has found that a majority of its members
  have registered with the party in error. Nearly three in four people
  did not realize they had joined the party, a survey of registered AIP
  voters conducted for The Times found.

  That mistake could prevent people from casting votes in the June 7
  presidential primary, California's most competitive in decades.

  Voters from all walks of life were confused by the use of the word
  "independent" in the party’s name, according to The Times analysis. [...]

  'I had a voter totally break down and cry in my lobby' [Santa Cruz
  [County registrar of voters Gail] Pellerin added, recalling a young
  woman who wanted to vote in the 2008 Democratic primary between Hillary
  Clinton and Barack Obama, but couldn’t because she'd registered with the
  American Independent Party.

  "The poor thing just sobbed," Pellerin said. "It’s very frustrating."

Article goes on to recount contacting numerous now-embarrassed
celebrities who had made that exact mistake and are now doing damage control:
Among others, Demi Moore, Kaley Cuoco, Emma Stone, and Sugar Ray Leonard
all fell for AIP's idiot filter.  (if you had a suspicion that many
actors and boxers are a bit dim, you were right.)

Anyway, there _is_ time to correct your registration if it's not what you
wish.


THE RULES:

California's top-two primary system allows people to vote for any
candidate, regardless of party -- _but_ this applied only to state
offices, as California statutes cannot override Federal election law 
(and CA's top-two arrangement also doesn't apply to voting for county
offices or to voting for parties' county central committees, either).

Each of the six California-qualified parties
(http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/political-parties/qualified-political-parties/)
has its own rules for the CA presidential primary.  Basically: 
three parties permit participation by 'no preference voters'; three don't.



1.  American Independent Party,
    http://www.aipca.org/ ,
    is having a CLOSED primary this year.  If you wish to vote AIP,
    make sure you register that preference with your county registrar 
    of voters by May 23rd, or you won't be permitted to vote in the
    party's presidential primary.

2.  Democratic Party, 
    http://www.cadem.org/ ,
    is permitting anyone who is registered Democratic _or_ who is 
    registered 'no party preference' to vote Democratic.  Note (as 
    stressed by the _LA Times_ that AIP is NOT THE SAME as 
    'no party preference'.

3.  Green Party,
    http://www.cagreens.org/ ,
    is permitting anyone who is registered Green _or_ who is registered
    'no party preference' to vote Green.   (It's not easy being Green.)

4.  Libertarian Party,
    http://ca.lp.org/ ,
    is having a CLOSED primary this year.  If you wish to vote 
    Libertarian, make sure you register that preference with your county
    registrar of voters by May 23rd, or you won't be permitted to vote in 
    the party's presidential primary.

5.  Peace and Freedom Party,
    http://www.peaceandfreedom.org/ ,
    is permitting anyone who is registered Peace and Freedom _or_ who 
    is registered 'no party preference' to vote Peace and Freedom.
 
6.  Republican Party, 
    https://www.cagop.org/ ,
    is having a CLOSED primary this year.  If you wish to vote GOP,
    make sure you register that preference with your county elections
    department by May 23rd, or you won't be permitted to vote in the
    party's presidential primary.


Above applies ONLY to California's primaries, and is guaranteed true only
for the June 2016 election, as each party may decide to admit 'no party
preference' voters or not each time there's a primary.

Reference:
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/political-parties/no-party-preference/