Do-overs (1)
A quick thought on the prospect of Michigan’s aim to re-do the Democratic primary, this time for reals: how in the heck are they going to come up with a decent fix?
Chesney said it also remains unclear what — if any — mechanism might be included to prevent those who voted in the GOP primary on Jan. 15 from voting in the second Democratic primary.
I assume that there were a number of people who, in the original primary, wanted to vote for Obama but didn’t because he wasn’t on the ballot and didn’t want to take the time to throw a worthless “undecided” vote. Or, there probably were people who were uncomitted to either party, and since the Democratic primary didn’t look like it mattered voted in the Republican primary. If the Dem roster was full, might they have voted in that one instead? How do you make this fair to everyone? Do you allow anyone to vote in the new and improved Democratic primary, regardless of what they might have done before? That’s hardly fair to both parties. But I have a feeling that no matter what they come up with, there’s no good way to have everyone in the state truely voice their opinion anymore. Heh, maybe both parties could just do it over. Good job, Michigan. Why can’t there be a national primary day again??
On a better note, check out another great comic from xkcd:
If you got a big keyspace, let me search it.
Hi Pete,
First, I have to say how delighted I was to come across a blog with both Michigan politics and cryptography jokes on the same page—two of my favorite things.
You’re right that the situation is tricky. I’m a lifelong Democrat, and voted in the Republican primary after the Democratic party told me they didn’t want my vote. All of the Democrats I know did the same thing. We will not be happy if we can’t participate in a re-vote, but on the other hand if everybody is allowed to vote, including Republicans, you can bets lots of people will cross over, and the election won’t really reflect the will of Michigan Democrats.
At first I was very put off by the prospect of a re-vote that I couldn’t participate in. I felt it disenfranchised all of the Michigan Democrats who were paying close enough attention to know that their vote in the Democratic primary was meaningless. But my wife, who is an attorney and studied constitutional law in school, reminded me that disenfranchised means denied the right to vote, and I actually did get to vote, even if it was under bad circumstances. So I’m resigned to accepting that if the Michigan Democratic Party holds primaries I can’t participate in, they’re basically legitimate and I will be OK with it.