Sanders supporters argue that California is confusing voters
Voting registration for California鈥檚 independent voters should be extended from Monday until the day of the state鈥檚 primary election on June 7, argues a group of Sen. Bernie Sanders supporters in a lawsuit.聽
In a suit filed Friday against Secretary of State Alex Padilla and Alameda County and San Francisco County election officials, attorneys William Simpich and Stephen Jaffe argue that independent California voters are essentially being disenfranchised by complicated voting procedures.聽
鈥�,鈥� Mr. Simpich tells the Los Angeles Times. 鈥淭his is a situation that really shouts for some uniformity.鈥澛�
Simpich and Mr. Jaffe represent individual voters and groups 鈥� such as the Voting Rights Defense Project 鈥� who support Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders in asking for a number of voting reforms in the sunshine state.聽聽
鈥淭he application to vote by mail procedure makes it very confusing if you鈥檙e a 'no party preference' voter to get your ballot,鈥� Simpich . 鈥淲e want to see voters obviously turn out in as large numbers as possible. We think, especially with independent voters, it鈥檚 going to mean more votes for Bernie.鈥澛�
The Democratic Party has an open primary in the state of California, meaning that voters don鈥檛 have to be registered Democrats to cast a vote for the Democratic presidential candidate. But to participate in California鈥檚 presidential primary, voters with no party preference who vote by mail for the party whose primary in which they want to vote 鈥� otherwise they will be sent a 鈥渘on-partisan鈥� ballot that does not include presidential candidates.聽And once voters mail in a ballot 鈥� whether it be the correct one or not 鈥� they are unable to correct their mistake and vote again.
鈥淭he Democratic (primary) was sold to voters as an open primary, but it ,鈥� Paul Mitchell, co-founder of the Los Angeles voter analytics firm Political Data Inc and not affiliated with the lawsuit, tells The San Francisco Chronicle. 鈥淚t鈥檚 more like a closed primary with an option for people to get into it.鈥�
Along with the deadline extension, the lawsuit asks that independent voters be allowed to write in their candidate of choice if they receive the wrong form. And if independent voters already submitted the wrong, blank, form by mistake, they should be allowed the chance to re-vote. Outreach efforts in all 58 counties should improve, argue Simpich and Jaffe, so independent voters understand the state鈥檚 Democratic primary is open, but with stipulations.聽
Mr. Mitchell agrees with the lawsuit鈥檚 basic argument because although independent voters are allowed to participate in the Democratic primary, the rules are unclear. The number of independent voters who vote by mail in California could be as many as 2.1 million, suggests Mitchell.聽
According to the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonpartisan research think tank, the number of independent voters in the state has increased since 2011. Of the 17.7 million registered voters in California, in 2015, compared to the 28 percent that are Republicans and the 43.2 percent that are Democrats.
Such changes to the state's presidential primary process would almost certainly give Sanders鈥檚 campaign a boost. As The Monitor鈥檚 Peter Grier explains, party allegiance is a central difference between Clinton and Sanders supporters:
鈥淐linton鈥檚 supporters are far more likely to be registered Democrats. She鈥檚 won self-identified party members in the vast majority of states contested so far. That makes sense 鈥� she鈥檚 one of them. She鈥檚 been a party stalwart for a generation.
Sanders supporters are far more likely to be Democratic-leaning independents. This is a good-size chunk of the electorate. About one-third of US voters identify as independent, and one-third of them are really Democrats who just don鈥檛 like labels. Sanders has dominated with these voters virtually everywhere.鈥澛�
In fact, Sanders is one of these voters himself. He has run for office as a political independent for years, only becoming a Democrat for the purpose of running for president.聽Exit polling data indicates that Sanders鈥� margin increases with the density of independent voters.聽
鈥淎s we鈥檝e noted before, Sanders has been as successful as he鈥檚 been in part because of : People that vote Democratic but who identify themselves as independents when asked by exit pollsters,鈥� writes聽The Washington Post鈥檚 Philip Bump.聽
