too late to vote and support ron paul?

[orenbus]

Hi Im a registered democrat that wants to switch party affiliation to support Ron Paul in the primaries. When exactly do the primaries happen is it this year or next year? I searched around the web but am finding contradicting info.

Thanks

[Kandilynn]

The primaries will start next year.

If you register now, then you will be ready by the time of your state's primary.

[cujothekitten]

What state are you in?

[zhughes315]

you should be good

[Exponent]

You don't even have to switch, if you live in a state with open primaries.

Check this page (http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P08/paag.phtml), find your state, click on the Republican link on that row, and look for "Voter Eligibility".

[orenbus]

i live in new jersey, just sent in party declaration form to board of elections although hope its not too late

thanks all

[Lois]

Here's a definition of "Open Primary".

In effect, until you're a registered Republican, your vote for Ron Paul could be 'tossed out'.

http://www.thegreenpapers.com/Definitions.html#Open

***********

OPEN PRIMARY OR CAUCUS
In an Open primary or caucus, any voter - regardless of party registration - may vote in the primary of either major party (but not both!): Democrats may, if they wish, pass up their own party's primary to vote in the Republican primary, while Republicans may choose to pass up their own party's primary to vote in the Democratic primary; Independents may vote in either major party's primary. In addition, a voter's party affiliation is unaffected by which primary he or she might have chosen to vote in: for example, a Democrat who chooses to vote in the Republican primary remains a registered Democrat and an Independent who votes in the Democratic primary remains a member of neither major party.

However, the national leaderships of the two major parties have never been entirely comfortable with those states having such "open" primary/caucus laws; to their minds, the only persons who should be entitled to vote in a state party's presidential primary or caucus are those who are registered members of the party: though- somewhat begrudgingly, perhaps- they have accepted the concept that, in an "open" primary or caucus, those who are truly Independent by virtue of not being affiliated with either major party (or, for that matter, ANY party- even third parties) should be allowed to vote in either major party's presidential primary or caucus as they might choose (as long as they are not permitted to vote in both!). As a result of this attitude on the parts of the major parties' national hierarchies, there has been a trend- quite visible as we go through the 2004 Presidential Election cycle- toward allowing, in some "open" primary/caucus states, the major parties to only count those votes cast by registered party members (and, perhaps, Independents) in determining the allocation of delegates to the party's National Convention among the presidential contenders (in effect, tossing out the votes of registered members of the other major party- if not those of Independents as well!). It is, therefore, quite possible- in a state which has so altered its otherwise "open" primary or caucus- that a presidential contender might not receive the full complement of National Convention delegates to which he would be entitled had ALL the votes (not just those of registered party members and, perhaps, Independents) cast in the primary been utilized to determine the make-up of that state's delegation to the party's National Convention; the result of such a scenario might very well be a legal battle in the courts and/or a floor fight (with a concomitant roll call vote) at the National Convention- or, perhaps, both!- over just how many Convention delegates presidential contenders would be entitled to have pledged to them as a result of such an altered "open" primary or caucus: especially where the differences in the makeup of the delegation(s) from one or more states between that derived from counting ALL votes (even those cast in a state's primary or caucus by members of the other major party) and that derived from counting only those the state party has determined to be valid would be the difference between a contender's winning or losing in the Presidential Nomination balloting at the party's National Convention... Stay tuned should just such a scenario ever develop in an otherwise "open" primary!

[MediaTruthNetwork]

In my state you can switch your party up to 30 days before the primary
election. I'm not sure about other states. You should be able to go
to your states gov home page and jump over to the voting section
for their terms.

http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Voting/Register.shtml

http://www.usa.gov/Agencies/State_and_Territories.shtml

- Dave