By Efraim M. for COLlive.com
Following a previous article in which I explained the importance of every Jew voting and how it would make a big difference in how elected officials treat us, I would like to now take it a step further and discuss the importance of voting in primaries.
When you register to vote, you have the option of becoming a Republican, a Democrat, an independent, or a member of another small party. Your party affiliation does NOT affect who you can vote for in general elections, so a Democrat voter can choose a Republican candidate, and vice versa. Where party affiliation does make a difference is in primary elections, and (in New York) voting in the primaries is even more important than voting in the general election.
For those who are unfamiliar, a primary election is where multiple members of a party compete to be the candidate that the party chooses to run against the other party’s candidate in November when general elections usually occur. As such, only registered Democrats can vote in Democratic primaries, and only registered Republicans can vote in Republican primaries.
Now given that the majority of voters in New York State and even more so in New York City are Democrats, the candidate who usually wins the general election (whether for Governor, Mayor, the legislature, or other races) is a Democrat, with some exceptions that are getting rarer as time goes on.
As a result, while it’s always important to vote in general elections for the candidate that one thinks is best regardless of the chances that they have to win, it’s even more crucial that all Jews register as Democrats and vote in the Democratic primaries since that’s where we can have the greatest influence.
There are two reasons for this:
1. Whoever wins the Democratic primary will in all likelihood win the general election.
2. Voter turnout in primaries is usually lower than in general elections. As a result, the more Jews that vote, the bigger of an influence we can have by selecting the more moderate candidate to be nominated.
As shown here, the presidential primaries will be taking place on Tuesday, 4 Iyar 5780 / April 28, 2020, while the local primaries for statewide offices will be taking place on Tuesday, 1 Tammuz 5780 / June 23, 2020, and the general election for president, the House of Representatives, State Senate and State Assembly will be on Tuesday, 16 Cheshvan 5781 / November 3, 2020.
In light of the aforementioned, I would argue that the June 23 primary is the most important one for us to vote in, as that is where we’ll have the most influence on who will represent us at the state level next year. Also, we have a real chance to elect Chaim Deutsch as our congressman, which will ensure that our voice is heard in the halls of Congress.
In conclusion, I would like to once again remind those of you that haven’t registered, to please pick up a form from the community council as soon as possible and mail it in, and to please be prepared to vote on the aforementioned dates. Together as a community, we will make a difference and finally elect politicians that listen to our voices.
!המעשה הוא העיקר
Otherwise how do you care?
.ומכלל הן אתה שומע לאו
I have registered Republican. I can’t identify with the Democrats any longer. Furthermore, the local candidates are all cookie cutter panderers – not worth worrying about.
Then you have to register as a Democrat to vote in their primaries. This does mean you agree with any of the party’s policies.
Registering as a Democrat does not mean you identify with them. It’s just a practical course of action in order to be able to choose between the candidates that actually have a chance of winning in the general election.
If you were a real Republican then you would register as a Democrat take the extra step and help your brothers sisters and neighbors elect a candidate to the federal Congress that will fight for the policies that help rational people in our community. Further more if you maintain a dogma of not registering as a Democrat for ideological reasons then you will be helping the Democratic Party with their agenda that countered what our community holds dear.
A REAL Republican cares about his community and does what is needed to elect better candidates, even registering as a Democrat if that’s what is necessary.
I agree with you, but this time is different. This time there will be a candidate who is NOT a “cookie cutter panderer”, one who, even if he is a Democrat, is a cut above all the others, and one we should support. So I will be changing my registration to Democrat, in order to be able to vote for Chaim Deutsch in June, and I urge you to do the same. Remember the law recently changed, so it’s not too late to switch parties. Under the old law the deadline was last October, but now the deadline is February… Read more »
If you vote Republican and can’t vote in the Democrat primary for Chaim Deutsch, you will end up HELPING the Democrats.
Registering Democrat doesn’t mean agreeing with them, it’s just so you can vote in their primaries.
it’s a case of “do what we tell you or else”..
maybe if all the Jews in NY changed allegiance to republican then maybe those
dem bozos in Washington woulod get the message,jewish blood is not cheap,
GO TRUMP FOREVER
Maybe if all Jews VOTED, than we’d have better elected officials.
…We’d have someone who cares.
If you are voting in the Democratic primary, vote for Yang, the most pro Israel, the most pro family values in the Democrats. He platform premise is that the 4th Industrial revolution, and automation will take away 30% of jobs in the coming years and decades and the solution is a UBI a universal Basic Income of $1000 per adult per month. His goal is to eradicate poverty. Because $1000 a month is at the poverty and you don’t lose it if you work, unlike current welfare programs where if you work on the books you lose most of the… Read more »
Why would anyone vote for yang or any other Dem in the primaries?! Nobody too lazy to work deserves any money! Where is this money coming from? This beautiful “UBI” will be funded by what? Other hard working citizens! My money doesn’t belong in your pocket no matter what. Get off your couch and earn a living, stop leaching and/or encouraging that horrible cycle.
Yours truly, Dave.
This is your chance to DO something.
If you want to make sure to have a candidate you LIKE running as a democrat in the general election, then register as a Democrat ASAP and USE that as your privilege to pick Chaim Deutsch, SO THAT Yvette Clarke can get on with her life as EX-representative. After the primary election, feel free to change your registration back to Republican, if you feel you must. Registering Democrat, in order to effect REAL CHANGE in representation of Crown Heights, is a STRATEGY, NOT a “statement” of your personal politics. It’s a perfectly legal way to have a voice in the… Read more »
Everything you said is 100% correct, except for this: “After the primary election, feel free to change your registration back to Republican…”
Best not to do that, actually, because there will be other Democratic primaries (and again, as pointed out in the article, those are the ones that count in New York) in which you’ll want to make your voice heard.
In the 43rd Assembly District ( Crown Heights Neighborhood), registered Democrats (64,811) out number Republicans (3721) by 61,090 votes, ( Independence party= 1472 voters) so why not register as a democrat since the MARGIN OF VICTORY in the democratic primaries is usually a couple of thousand and the Republicans have no mathematical chance of winning a general election.
Jay from LI
Exactly the point.
Does anyone know if there’s a way to change your party registration/affiliation?
If you want to vote in this primary, and are not currently a registered democrat, CHANGE YOUR STATUS PRIOR TO FEB 15! If you do so before then, you can vote during the primary. If you do so after, you won’t be able to vote in the June primary.
Details here: https://www.elections.ny.gov/VotingRegister.html#VoteRegForm
This is so important for our community! It doesn’t matter if generally you prefer Republicans, we haven’t had a Republican representative, let alone a FRUM representative who cares about our community in years. If we all register and vote for Chaim, he has a real chance.
So where is Yang planning to get the $ to give each adult $ 1000? Even his fellow Democrats laughed at this idea. There are no free lunches. Yang proposes to raise this money by taxing the wealthy which we have seen only hurts the lower and middle class. A simple reading of a Milton Friedman book or Thomas Sowell and you will see the reason to avoid Democratic economic policies. The US is already over 20 trillion dollars in debt and the deficit this year is 1 trillion dollars. We need to eliminate several Cabinet departments and slash the… Read more »
Yang’s idea of UBI, is very similar to Milton Friedman idea of a negative tax, where everyone gets income from the government.
See Yang on a long form interview or his website. He explains everything.
In short most comes from a VAT. Amazon paid $0 in federal tax while causing 30% of shops to close.
So the goal, like Milton Friedman, is to make sure nobody is starving, and encouraging work without penalizing work.
UBI is not a Democratic idea. It’s a bipartisan idea with supporters from both parties.
Friedman’s negative tax idea was to REPLACE ALL forms of welfare with this one program, administered by the IRS. Every other program, and its supporting administration, would be abolished. That would be something to consider. But not if it’s going to be on top of existing welfare programs.
Yang’s plan is similar, it’s opt in and those who opt in forfeit some of the welfare programs.
So, yes, Yang’s plan is very similar to Milton Friedman’s Negative income tax.
At the time of the Clinton impeachment hearings, I switched my registration to Republican and have not regretted it.
Sure, I’d love to have Chaim Deutsch as our congressman. Would he REALLY have a good chance to be elected if a sizeable number of CH residents register as Democrats? It’s very hard to stomach this “strategy.”
If all the Jews in Crown Heights, Midwood and Flatbush vote.
If we all vote.
Don’t miss the deadline.
The sooner the better.
You’re helping out your whole community by doing this.
Hashem commanded us to do our השתדלות. Just like you go to work in order to have פרנסה.
I’d like to propose something different – that people propose to their elected representatives to have NYS switch to open primaries. In Virginia, for instance, voters can vote in any primary they choose, but only for one party. If that were law in NYS, there would be no need to register for any party at all!
It’s not going to happen in the near future, so we have to deal with the reality as it is, which means being registered as a Democrat in order to participate in their primaries.
Please don’t waste the opportunity.
Why can’t chaim Deutsh run on several party lines. Or perhaps that’s only in the general election. Answered my own question.
But in order to be able to run on the Democrat party line, he has to win the primary.
If Chaim Deutsch wins the Democratic Primary, what happens if the left wing Working Families party runs a candidate who lost like Yvette Clarke or Adeem Bunkeddeko, both of which candidates are well known and black, and popular in white liberal parts of the district. Wouldn’t it be better to pick a rising Star as the Shabbos Goy who carries specific Jewish policy stances, than to alienate them. The answer on whether to gamble in voting for a Jewish candidate is an analysis of the total ballots in the Certified Election Results by Assembly District and (election district if you… Read more »
We must do our השתדלות.