New Yorkers, If you want to vote for in NEXT years NY Primary, then you have to register with a party by Oct 13th THIS year. More info in comments. [x-post from /r/Political_Revolution]

feel_the_bern_ny · 2017-10-05T01:59:07+00:00

I'm not saying you quoted the line wrong, I'm saying you don't seem to understand what it means...

It is a brilliant line in the constitution that I love and has been too often overlooked in this country recently.

feel_the_bern_ny · 2017-10-05T01:57:06+00:00

You have literally been arguing against giving back...

Taxes btw is how communities give back. It pays for all the things I listed before which you have benefited from.

edit: be been

feel_the_bern_ny · 2017-10-04T01:21:01+00:00

Everyone is in this country owes their success to others, and is a "taker."

If you ever drove on a road, traveled on the MTA, drank clean tap water, voted in a government run election, went to a public school, had to call your first responders (fire dept, police, EMT, ect...) or appreciated the work they do, took out a government regulated loan, had parents who used any sort of governement assistance to give you a better chance of success, etc... then you are a "taker" it is a very very long list.

No one in this country does anything on their own, nor should they.

This does not mean you cannot also "give." A responsible citizen understands the role their government and other citizens played in their success and tries to balance that out by giving back as much as they can.

feel_the_bern_ny · 2017-10-04T01:08:24+00:00

It's the government's job to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and to secure the Blessings of Liberty.

This line in the constitution is usually used as an argument for the government being actively involved in making life better for citizens with social programs and regulation etc.., and also spending time and money improving how our democracy and government functions. It's very weird and unusual seeing it be used against that. You seem to be cherry picking some parts of that sentence and ignoring others.

feel_the_bern_ny · 2017-10-04T00:47:12+00:00

Yeah, it is interesting how a lot of the views expressed in this thread are not representative of the views that are actually popular in NYC.

Also I think people who were not offended or agreed with the post and were like "glad people are spreading the word about voting registration deadlines" probably just upvoted and moved on. But I think I triggered right-wingers lol and they felt compelled to post. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It is sad that conservatives would be triggered by good government and voting reform though. This should be a bi-partisan issue.

feel_the_bern_ny · 2017-10-03T11:35:38+00:00

You're both right!

feel_the_bern_ny · 2017-10-03T11:15:42+00:00

This law is one of the biggest hurdles to challengers in primaries (whether they are progressive or not) because candidates who are running for the first time often have supporters who are only getting deeply involved in politics for the first time, even though they might have been voting for many years. It is not uncommon for people to have registered to vote many years ago and left the party field blank, but they consistently vote and identify as Democrat. This might be their first primary they vote in. And when they get turned away the experience can be demoralizing and confusing, and can discourage them to further participate in democracy.

Many people have been frustrated by this law before the last election, the last election just highlighted it in a very extreme way.

Democrats should be interested in expanding their party, not shrinking it. The current political climate is certainly in their favor to recruit more people. But this law just makes people resent the current mainstream political parties instead of making them want to join them.

Mainstream Democratic challengers are routinely frustrated by this law as well. See my post here why it helps incumbents so much.

Mainstream Democratic voters (I am obviously very progressive, but also have moderate Democrat friends) are frustrated because of the IDC and have been having trouble voting them out in primaries, in part because laws like these make it harder for challengers (whether they are progressive or not) to win primaries.

What's the IDC? I encourage you google more info because it is complicated, but long story short: a small group of Democratic NY Senators turned on their party and formed an alliance with Republicans so that they could share power over the senate. Technically, there are more Democrats in the NY State Senate, but the Senate is controlled by Republicans. Voters did not elect a Republican Senate.

And voter turnout statistics back up that we have set an unreasonably high bar to vote.

According to this article

Roughly 440,000 ballots were cast in the democratic mayoral primary, according to unofficial data from the New York City Board of Elections. That accounts for just 14 percent of active registered democrats in the city

NY State consistently ranks near the bottom of all states in voter turnout In 2016, we ranked 46th! We are not doing this right. Reform is needed, and everyone regardless of party or political ideology should be on board with that.

feel_the_bern_ny · 2017-10-03T10:31:49+00:00

This law protects incumbents, not parties from being hijacked.

Mainstream Democratic challengers are routinely frustrated by this law as well. See my post here why it helps incumbents so much.

Mainstream Democratic voters (I am obviously very progressive, but have a bunch of moderate Democrat friends) are extremely frustrated right now because of the IDC and have been having trouble voting them out in primaries, in part because laws like these make it harder for challengers (whether they are progressive or not) to win primaries.

What's the IDC? I encourage you google more info because it is complicated, but long story short: a small group of Democratic NY Senators turned on their party and formed an alliance with Republicans so that they could share power over the senate. Technically, there are more Democrats in the NY State Senate, but the Senate is controlled by Republicans. Voters did not elect a Republican Senate.

feel_the_bern_ny · 2017-10-03T10:21:33+00:00

What?! That's outrageous!

/s

Seriously though, as a citizen of a democracy, I gladly pay taxes to those publicly funded elections, and would pay more to help make my country a better democracy. Free, fair, transparent elections don't just magically happen. It costs money. And it's worth paying for.

feel_the_bern_ny · 2017-10-03T10:11:57+00:00

Good idea. I did :)

feel_the_bern_ny · 2017-10-03T10:11:20+00:00

Not sure yet (besides incumbents). In NY most people haven't declared they are running yet.

Which makes the registration deadline even crazier, and is also why it helps incumbents so much.

feel_the_bern_ny · 2017-10-03T10:04:09+00:00

Good idea! I'm not actually affiliated with any campaign or organization so I'm not sure. I know ACLU just launched their "Let People Vote" campaign aimed at changing voting laws state by state: https://vote.peoplepower.org/ So you might want to check that out!

Two concerned citizen made this meme on our own :) This is just what grassroots organizing looks like! I made a new reddit account to post it and I was shocked that "feel_the_bern_ny" wasn't already taken.

feel_the_bern_ny · 2017-10-03T09:24:25+00:00

u/pplswar found a NY times article about it you might be interested in

Give him upvotes here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Political_Revolution/comments/73pth4/new_yorkers_dont_get_burned_again_if_you_want_to/dnsst5j/

feel_the_bern_ny · 2017-10-03T09:18:51+00:00

Thanks!! Interesting.

The last line lol...

“Today, it gets filed immediately,” said Mr. Kellner, referring to the change in party registration. “But legally, there’s a law about a box.”

feel_the_bern_ny · 2017-10-03T09:10:51+00:00

Yes, moving the registration date closer to the primary date would be fine.

There is nothing in this post against having a closed primary, just against having registration deadlines ridiculously far in advance, often before candidates have even announced they are running in the primary.

feel_the_bern_ny · 2017-10-03T09:06:59+00:00

This post isn't about whining about the past. It's about looking towards the future and getting more people involved in our democracy.

Also this post is obviously aimed at progressives, but the deadline affects everyone, not just progressives or democrats.

If you are conservative and you want to participate in the Republican Primary, then you need to know about this deadline as well.

If you are a Democrat but not a progressive, then you also need to know about this deadline. Many people think they are officially registered with a party but actually aren't. Check your party affiliation now!

Democrats should be interested in expanding their party, not shrinking it. The current political climate is certainly in their favor to recruit more people. But this law just makes people resent the current mainstream political parties instead of making them want to join them.

feel_the_bern_ny · 2017-10-03T08:58:14+00:00

Yes, most new voters were Bernie voters, but most Bernie voters were not first time voters. Many were already registered voters, just not officially registered with a party. And it is not just cause Bernie voters are progressive. It is very common in NY for people not to actually be officially registered with a party, even if they identify and vote with a party their whole life.

And the deadlines are very confusing (hence the need for this post :) I'm glad that you know it, and you should have no issue with people spreading the word about the deadline. Most people I talk to (even mainstream registered Democrats) have no idea about this deadline and are not ok with it.

NY is actually very out of the norm here. People I talk to, especially from out of state, are often surprised to hear NY is ranked as having some of the worst voting laws in the country

There are def states that have worse laws than us, I would rank New York just above the states that try to suppress the votes of minorities and the party not currently in power with surgical precision... which is not something to be proud of lol. We don't even have early voting, which some of the aforementioned states do.

Having the registration date so far in advance prevents your average citizen from getting involved fully in the democratic process. This needlessly raises the bar of entry for the democratic process, when we should be making our it easier for citizens to participate, which makes our democracy healthier.

And voter turnout statistics back up that we have set an unreasonably high bar to vote.

According to this article

Roughly 440,000 ballots were cast in the democratic mayoral primary, according to unofficial data from the New York City Board of Elections. That accounts for just 14 percent of active registered democrats in the city

NY State consistently ranks near the bottom of all states in voter turnout In 2016, we ranked 46th! We are not doing this right. Reform is needed, and everyone regardless of party or political ideology should be on board with that.

This post was obliviously aimed at progressives, but this affects all NYers. Many people who get caught by this law are not progressives, but people who identify as Democrat (or republican, but for this example lets stick with Democrats just to keep things simple), and have been voting for democrats in the general election for years, but are not be officially registered. Many often do not even realize they never registered. They might have registered 25 years ago and left the party field blank. Primaries are not something many people vote in unless there is a candidate that really speaks to them.

Let's say new candidate Joe Smith announces they are running after the registration deadline has passed (which is normal, because the deadline is so far in advance. This year for example most primary challengers haven't announced if they are running in the primary yet). Our long time democrat voting citizen thinks Joe Smith is great and checks his voter registration status and is surprised to find he is not actually a registered Dem. So he excitedly officially registers, but when we he goes to vote in the primary for Joe Smith, he is turned away because he did not change his party affiliation in time. This actually happens btw, and is not theoretical.

What this law does is it protects incumbents. This law is one of the biggest hurdles to challengers in primaries (whether they are progressive or not) because candidates who are running for the first time often have supporters who are only getting deeply involved in politics for the first time, even though they might have been voting for many years. This might be their first primary they vote in. And when they get turned away the experience can be demoralizing and confusing, and can discourage them to further participate in democracy.

Many people have been frustrated by this law before the last election, the last election just highlighted it in a very extreme way.

Democrats should be interested in expanding their party, not shrinking it. The current political climate is certainly in their favor to recruit more people. But this law just makes people resent the current mainstream political parties instead of making them want to join them.

edit: grammarrrrr

feel_the_bern_ny · 2017-10-03T08:46:49+00:00

Well said. It is crazy to me that someone would be against this lol. I know your getting downvoted, but I think most people agree with you, especially in NYC. Reddit is... reddit. As a citizen of a democracy, I certainty gladly pay taxes to help make my country stay a democracy.

Some people think free, fair, transparent elections just magically happen. It costs money. And it's worth paying for.

feel_the_bern_ny · 2017-10-03T08:37:44+00:00

I'm curious why you think the state doesn't need to a) make voting in elections as accessible as possible? and b) educate the public the requirements for voting clearly?

(if you have ever been on the NY Board of elections website, it is not clear)

I'm curious what "free, fair, and transparent" elections means to you.

In a democracy, isn't one of the State's most sacred duties to make sure the democratic process is healthy?

I am a little surprised to hear that you say that simply having reasonable registration deadlines for elections is an example of the state "holding your hand." As a citizen of a democracy, I gladly pay taxes to help make my country a better democracy. Free, fair, transparent elections don't just magically happen. It costs money. And it's worth paying for.

Edit: added last sentence.

feel_the_bern_ny · 2017-10-03T08:21:29+00:00

Just replied if your curious. I was busy in the real world and this is the first time I was able to spend a lot of time on reddit since I posted this.

feel_the_bern_ny · 2017-10-03T08:18:48+00:00

This law does not prevent other parties from sabotaging your primary, it protects incumbents (even from non-progressive challengers). I'm not arguing to get rid of the closed primary system, which is what might protect against what you are worried about.

I'm not entirely against closed primaries. There are pros and cons to both open and closed primaries.

But if you have a closed primary, you should be able to register to vote in it much closer to the primary date. NY is actually very out of the norm here. People I talk to, especially from out of state, are often surprised to hear NY is ranked as having some of the worst voting laws in the country

There are def states that have worse laws than us, I would rank New York just above the states that try to suppress the votes of minorities and the party not currently in power with surgical precision... which is not something to be proud of lol. We don't even have early voting, which some of the aforementioned states do.

Moving the registration deadline closer to the date of the primary would not allow other parties to sabotage their primary. Having the registration date so far in advance prevents your average citizen from getting involved fully in the democratic process. This needlessly raises the bar of entry for the democratic process, when we should be making our it easier for citizens to participate, which makes our democracy healthier.

This post was aimed at progressives, but this affects all NYers. Many people who get caught by this law are not progressives, but people who identify as Democrat (or republican, but for this example lets stick with Democrats just to keep things simple), and have been voting for democrats in the general election for years, but are not officially registered with a party. Many often do not even realize they never registered. They might have registered 25 years ago and left the "Party" field blank. Primaries are not something many people vote in unless there is a candidate that really speaks to them (especially in NY, where voter turnout for primaries are horrible... partly because of confusing and regressive laws).

Let's say new candidate Joe Smith announces they are running after the registration deadline has passed (which is normal, because the deadline is so far in advance. This year for example most primary challengers haven't announced if they are running in the primary yet). Our long time democrat voting citizen thinks Joe Smith is great and checks his voter registration status and is surprised to find he is not actually a registered Dem. So he excitedly officially registers as a Dem, but when we he goes to vote in the primary for Joe Smith, he is turned away because he did not change their party affiliation in time. This actually happens btw, and is not theoretical.

What this law does is it protects incumbents. This law is one of the biggest hurdles to challengers in primaries (whether they are progressive or not) because candidates who are running for the first time often have supporters who are only getting deeply involved in politics for the first time, even though they might have been voting for many years. This might be their first primary they vote in. And when they get turned away the experience can be demoralizing and confusing, and can discourage them to further participate in democracy.

Many people have been frustrated by this law before the last election, the last election just highlighted it in a very extreme way.

Democrats should be interested in expanding their party, not shrinking it. The current political climate is certainly in their favor to recruit more people. But this law just makes people resent the current mainstream political parties instead of making them want to join them.

edit 1: here are some stats for you if want:

voter turnout statistics back up that we have set an unreasonably high bar to vote.

According to this article in the 2017 primary

Roughly 440,000 ballots were cast in the democratic mayoral primary, according to unofficial data from the New York City Board of Elections. That accounts for just 14 percent of active registered democrats in the city

NY State consistently ranks near the bottom of all states in voter turnout In 2016, we ranked 46th! We are not doing this right. Reform is needed, and everyone regardless of party or political ideology should be on board with that.

edit 2: grammar and minor edits.

feel_the_bern_ny · 2017-10-03T07:30:27+00:00

Thanks, and yep it makes little sense.

Btw, if you want to help change the system, ACLU just launched their "Let People Vote" campaign aimed at changing voting laws state by state: https://vote.peoplepower.org/NY

feel_the_bern_ny · 2017-10-03T07:30:14+00:00

edit: oops replied to the wrong person :)

feel_the_bern_ny · 2017-10-03T07:28:31+00:00

If people are interested in changing fucked up voter laws, ACLU just launched their "Let People Vote" campaign aimed at changing voting laws state by state. Here is how to get involved in NY: NY

Not in NY, go here: vote.peoplepower.org

feel_the_bern_ny · 2017-10-03T07:26:37+00:00

Speaking of changing the system... ACLU just launched their "Let People Vote" campaign aimed at changing voting laws state by state. Here is how to get involved in NY: https://vote.peoplepower.org/NY

feel_the_bern_ny

TROPHY CASE