Most Of Oregon’s Newly Registered Voters Won’t Be Able To Participate In The State’s Primary

[amborin]

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/05/16/3778610/oregon-closed-primary/

Most Of Oregon’s Newly Registered Voters Won’t Be Able To Participate In The State’s Primary

The new “Motor Voter” policy has added more than 67,000 new voters to the state’s voter rolls, and officials are hoping Tuesday’s primary will have record turnout. The new system has especially been a boon for young voters; since September, the number of registered voters between the ages of 18 and 29 has increased 21 percent.

Yet thousands of voters who received ballots in the mail over the past few weeks may have been surprised to learn they can’t cast a vote in the presidential primaries. Oregon operates closed primaries, meaning that only registered Democrats can decide between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, and only registered Republicans can decide between Donald Trump and the ghosts of Ted Cruz and John Kasich, who have already bowed out of the race. Under the new DMV system, voters are automatically registered as “unaffiliated,” and later receive a form in the mail giving them the option to change their party affiliation or opt out entirely. The vast majority — 76 percent — did not take that extra step by the late April deadline, and thus can’t participate in the presidential primary. They will still be able to vote in some local races.
76 percent of automatically registered voters will be excluded from Tuesday’s closed primary.

Oregon Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins admitted to the Associated Press that the system is not “the way we’re going to get the most participation.” She added that she and other Oregon officials are exploring whether DMVs can collect additional data and sign people up for the party of their choice automatically, as California plans to start doing next year.

Tuesday’s closed primary is expected to once again hurt Sanders

snip

These shut out voters will NOT be voting for HRC in the GE

[Lizzie Poppet]

1. "These shut out voters will NOT be voting for HRC in the GE"

Sure...and neither will I (I was able to vote in our primary: flipped my indy registration to Dem a few months ago to vote for Bernie).

But that won't matter much here. Oregon is pretty solidly blue. If it's Hillary on the ballot, the gap will be relatively low (Bernie would, of course, win by a mile here), but our little handful of Electors are going to the Democrat, regardless.

[Hoyt]

2. I guess it is Clinton's fault.

[NuclearDem]

3. Haven't we done this dance before?

You can't vote in a closed primary if you're not a registered member of the party. That's not a conspiracy against you, it's just how the rules are. If your campaign had spent more time registering people as Democrats, this wouldn't be an issue. Stop blaming the rest of the world for your incompetence.

[amborin]

4. to think Bernie won Despite this!