The ethics of cross party primary voting

[duckstab]

I myself would have no ethical problem whatsoever with crossing party lines to vote in a primary. If I, who am basically a yellow-dog Democrat, choose to vote in the GOP primary this year, I'll only be exercising a legal right available to all registered voters in the state of Texas. If I'm not supposed to participate, what about somebody who only votes GOP half the time? Should they flip a coin and only head to the polls if it comes up tails? What about a Libertarian, do they not get to vote in either primary?

It doesn't matter whether I vote for a moderate candidate (as the lesser evil) or a more extreme one (with the intent of damaging the other party). The secret ballot means exactly that: the individual's choice and their motivation for it are not subject to public scrutiny or moral censure. We're all free to vote for whoever we want for whatever reason. That's not a bug, that's a feature.

 

[Oerdin]

I forget if it takes effect this election or the next one but California is putting in place a universal primary where everyone votes at once, only the top two candidates go forward into the general (even if they're both from the same party), and this would mean no funny games getting played with primaries. Everyone will hypothetically vote only for the person they really want because if that person doesn't get enough votes then they're out of the general.

 

[Commodore]

Taken from Ayatollah's excellent thread in the Ideas are Like Stars...



I am struggling with this too. Do you think it is ethical to vote in another party's primary, for the purpose of helping your candidate? Do you think its only okay if your vote is unlikely to make a difference? Should I vote for The Poopsmith in Illinois? thoughts?

POLL COMIN

Yes, it is okay. I have absolutely no problem with political underhandedness to achieve your goals.

 

[Ayatollah So]

Ummm... aren't you supposed to court the independents/undecided? I thought that was kind of the point.

It doesn't matter whether I vote for a moderate candidate (as the lesser evil) or a more extreme one (with the intent of damaging the other party). The secret ballot means exactly that: the individual's choice and their motivation for it are not subject to public scrutiny or moral censure. We're all free to vote for whoever we want for whatever reason. That's not a bug, that's a feature.

Well, FWIW, I voted for the least evil, mostly because the wife threatened divorce if I voted Santorum and he won the general. Which could happen, IMO - the economy can still crash. Secret ballot, meet all-too-freely-spoken free speech. I can't lie, and can't keep my mouth shut - kind of a minor variation on the definition of

A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject

 

[Berzerker]

Taken from Ayatollah's excellent thread in the Ideas are Like Stars...



I am struggling with this too. Do you think it is ethical to vote in another party's primary, for the purpose of helping your candidate? Do you think its only okay if your vote is unlikely to make a difference? Should I vote for The Poopsmith in Illinois? thoughts?

POLL COMIN

I voted its fine but doing it for the purpose in the OP is not.

And now they have clips of Romney giggling about voting against Ted Kennedy in a primary and condemning the practice much more recently... Mr Flip Flop

 

[MagisterCultuum]

It is wrong for the state to subsidize political parties by facilitating partisan primary elections. It is also wrong to use a first past the post system of voting that makes primaries useful, or to have ballot access laws that make it harder to get on the general election ballot without the endorsement of a major party. In a system like Range Voting, where individual can express their opinions on each candidate individually, primaries are not only unnecessary but counterproductive. It is wrong to make the ballots present candidates without any background information on them or their platform but to list partisan affiliations so that the politically ignorant can choose to vote based on party affiliation rather than knowledge of the candidates themselves.


It is not wrong for individuals not associated with a political party to take advantage of the government subsidy to the party in such a way that may hurt the party or sway it towards positions more popular among those who are not party members.