Registered Independent in New York ?

[haigh]

Can a voter registered as Independent in New York vote for Ron Paul in the primaries?

[gravesdav]

Unfortunately no, NY is a closed primary. And i think the deadline to change registration is passed

[haigh]

Thanks gravesdav.

[bloodyr]

I heard many things about the deadline to register, but the latest, found on the official campaign site lists the party change deadline at January 11th, 2008.

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/states/new-york/

Important Upcoming Dates:

January 11th - last day for non-registered and first-time voters to register Republican

January 29th - last day to apply for an absentee ballot

February 4th - last day to postmark mailed absentee ballots

February 5th - last day for individuals to physically deliver absentee ballots

February 5th - New York State Primary


Primarypaul has the date wrong (oct 12th) which will surely result in many people not bothering at all.

[infojunkie]

October 12 was the deadline for anyone already registered to vote and just trying to change party enrollment. We have a crazy thing called a "lockbox" which slows down party changes. Oct 12, 2007 and earlier party enrollment changes took place starting seven days after the November 2007 elections, and do make you eligible for the Feb 5 Republican primary. Post-Oct 12 party changes take place starting seven days after NEXT November's election (Nov 2008).

The January 11 date was for people who were not yet registered to vote in NY, or who were changing counties. (A new county is considered a new registration.) New registrants by this date who enrolled Republican are eligible to vote in the Republican primary Feb 5.

More info, including the full text of NY Election Law, this year's enrollment figures PRIOR to the lockbock opening, and a decade's worth of election results by county can be found at the NYS Board of Elections home page: http://www.elections.state.ny.us/portal/page?_pageid=35,1,35_8336:35_8345&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

(Statewide post-lockbox enrollment figures and voter stats are not published until April 1, but are available from County BoEs now.)

I also wanted to clarify the party choices. The "Independence Party" is an actual party in NY (with an interesting, combative history, if you want to Google it). There are undoubtedly some people in NY who enrolled with the Independence Party who think they were enrolling "Independent," i.e., no party. NY Voters who actually have no party affiliation are usually called "Blanks," and are often summarized in a column called "BNV" for "blank, null and void." And no, neither of the above categories can vote in the Republican primary, only Republicans.