Primary voters in MD

[Anonymous]

Pardon me, I'm new to MD and the state I was living in during the last election had an early primary so this question never affected me until now. Obviously, MD primaries are very late, if Bernie Sanders drops out do we just not vote? Can I switch over to the Republican side even though I'm a Democrat?

Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

The vote will still be held even if Bernie drops out. Also there are other elections being decided in the same primary, including an important one depending on the congressional district in which you are registered. But you aren't required to vote.

MD is not an open primary so you can only vote in the primary for the party for which you affiliated when you registered. You can switch your party affiliation up to 21 days before the primary and then vote in the R primary, but you would be voting in the R primary for all the elections up for vote in the primary, not just presidential nominee.

[Anonymous]

There will be other positions on the ballot including members of both houses of congress as well as other local positions such as school board. If you really don't care, you can skip it, but congress is a big deal, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There will be other positions on the ballot including members of both houses of congress as well as other local positions such as school board. If you really don't care, you can skip it, but congress is a big deal, too.

Yes, I know that. I was just wondering how the PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY was handled.

[Anonymous]

If there is only one democrat candidate for president, then there will only be one presidential candidate listed on the democrat ballot. It's possible, that even if Sanders suspends his campaign, his name will still be on some ballots based on certain deadlines but it won't mean much if he's not campaigning. Regardless, most polls show Clinton 30-40 points ahead of Sanders so I don't think the outcome of that particular race is a mystery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If there is only one democrat candidate for president, then there will only be one presidential candidate listed on the democrat ballot. It's possible, that even if Sanders suspends his campaign, his name will still be on some ballots based on certain deadlines but it won't mean much if he's not campaigning. Regardless, most polls show Clinton 30-40 points ahead of Sanders so I don't think the outcome of that particular race is a mystery.

I should note that Clinton is 30-40 points ahead of Sanders in Maryland.

[Anonymous]

The downballet races are where the action is. If raskin wins the primary he will win in November, same for van hollen. I assume the GOP is running some sacrificial lambs in these races.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There will be other positions on the ballot including members of both houses of congress as well as other local positions such as school board. If you really don't care, you can skip it, but congress is a big deal, too.

Yes, I know that. I was just wondering how the PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY was handled.

It's all one primary election and you get one ballot - either a democratic or a republican ballot depending on your party registration. If you are a registered democrat you choose from the democratic candidates at all levels.

[Anonymous]

Isn't the R primary open to Independents though? I know the D primary isn't. I didn't know the 21 days before the election, however.

Still undecided whether I want to switch or not

[Anonymous]

I think the original question is what happens if Sanders drops out. The answer is that only one candidate will be available for president on the democratic primary ballot. You can check that box or not check that box. It's your choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The downballet races are where the action is. If raskin wins the primary he will win in November, same for van hollen. I assume the GOP is running some sacrificial lambs in these races.

Van Hollen is toast. He'll be opening the Rubio Van Hollen lobby shop by February.

[Anonymous]

FWIW: BaltSun poll from 3/4-8 shows:

Trump 34%
Cruz 25%
Kasich 18%
Rubio 14%

It's at least arguable that Kasich will get the lion's share of the Rubio votes. The winner of each CD gets 3 delegates and the statewide winner gets 14 for winning the state.

Clinton was up 61-28 in the Democratic primary.

Coming up:
March 22: Arizona primary (Trump), Utah caucus (Cruz), American Samoa (Cruz??)
April 1-3: North Dakota convention -- there's no preference whereby ordinary voters have a say in ND, but if it ends up being a "super-caucus," I suspect the most-viable not-Trump will win here.
April 5: Wisconsin. If Kasich gets drubbed (as in under 15%) here he may drop out -- it's WTA, with 18 going to the state winner and 3 to each of the district winners. But ...
April 19: New York, home of Rockefeller Republicans. But also home to Donald J. Trump. Kasich might win in a closed primary here.
April 26: The Acela Primary. Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Delaware, and Maryland. If Kasich can't win here, it's time to throw in the towel.

In other words: Kasich's goal is to stay alive until April, when the turf becomes much friendlier to him, at least in theory. If he can show up with say 400-500 delegates, and keep Trump from winning states in the NE and Midwest, he's done his job. If he gets in the way of Cruz being the not-Trump, he will be asked to fall on his sword.

As a popular governor with a decent track record and most notably not being a jerk (yeah, I know the professional progressives hate him, but they hate anyone to the right of Hillary and barely stand her), there will assuredly be a position for him in the Cabinet (a shame the US has no real direct equivalent to Home Minister) or as VP.

In the fall - I don't know if a protest vote for the Green or Libertarian candidate can help the party out in elections to come (in many states if they cross a threshold between 5% and 15% they are auto-qualified for the ballot for the next four years.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW: BaltSun poll from 3/4-8 shows:

Trump 34%
Cruz 25%
Kasich 18%
Rubio 14%

It's at least arguable that Kasich will get the lion's share of the Rubio votes. The winner of each CD gets 3 delegates and the statewide winner gets 14 for winning the state.

Clinton was up 61-28 in the Democratic primary.

Coming up:
March 22: Arizona primary (Trump), Utah caucus (Cruz), American Samoa (Cruz??)
April 1-3: North Dakota convention -- there's no preference whereby ordinary voters have a say in ND, but if it ends up being a "super-caucus," I suspect the most-viable not-Trump will win here.
April 5: Wisconsin. If Kasich gets drubbed (as in under 15%) here he may drop out -- it's WTA, with 18 going to the state winner and 3 to each of the district winners. But ...
April 19: New York, home of Rockefeller Republicans. But also home to Donald J. Trump. Kasich might win in a closed primary here.
April 26: The Acela Primary. Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Delaware, and Maryland. If Kasich can't win here, it's time to throw in the towel.

In other words: Kasich's goal is to stay alive until April, when the turf becomes much friendlier to him, at least in theory. If he can show up with say 400-500 delegates, and keep Trump from winning states in the NE and Midwest, he's done his job. If he gets in the way of Cruz being the not-Trump, he will be asked to fall on his sword.

As a popular governor with a decent track record and most notably not being a jerk (yeah, I know the professional progressives hate him, but they hate anyone to the right of Hillary and barely stand her), there will assuredly be a position for him in the Cabinet (a shame the US has no real direct equivalent to Home Minister) or as VP.

In the fall - I don't know if a protest vote for the Green or Libertarian candidate can help the party out in elections to come (in many states if they cross a threshold between 5% and 15% they are auto-qualified for the ballot for the next four years.)

Thanks for the stats!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn't the R primary open to Independents though? I know the D primary isn't. I didn't know the 21 days before the election, however.

Still undecided whether I want to switch or not

No, Independents may not vote in either the Republican or Democratic primaries. They can only vote for non-partisan positions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't the R primary open to Independents though? I know the D primary isn't. I didn't know the 21 days before the election, however.

Still undecided whether I want to switch or not

No, Independents may not vote in either the Republican or Democratic primaries. They can only vote for non-partisan positions.

I love that Maryland operates this way. Pick a side. So sick of open primaries this year.