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Conservative voters became outraged as they read further and saw only three options listed on the crossover ballot postcard: American Independent, Democratic or Libertarian. What about Republicans?

Some voters were confused last week when they opened a notice from the Siskiyou County Clerks office asking them to select a political party ballot for the March 3 presidential primary election.

Conservative voters became outraged as they read further and saw only three options listed on the crossover ballot postcard: American Independent, Democratic or Libertarian. What about Republicans?

The notices are the result of federal laws that govern presidential elections under the closed primary system, explained Siskiyou County Clerk Laura Bynum, and they were only sent to voters who are registered as No Party Preference (formerly Decline to State) Unknown, or a non-qualified political party. And although they are confusing, the notices are not an effort by Siskiyou County officials to drum up Democratic voters.

Historically, the Republican party does not open their primary to other political affiliations, said Bynum. Neither do the Peace and Freedom or Green parties, which is why theyre not listed as options for NPP voters, either. The American Independent, Democratic and Libertarian parties are the only parties that opened their Primary Election to NPP voters, Bynum said.

If you believe that youre a registered Republican, or one of the other five qualifying parties, and you received the notice, this indicates that somewhere along the way, your political party was changed.

This is not unheard of, said Bynum, because people may have inadvertently updated their political affiliation at the DMV, said Bynum.

It happens sometimes when people are renewing their license and they dont select an option for a political party,Bynum said. That kicks them into the Unknown category.

If you find yourself in this situation, Bynum suggests calling her office at (530) 842-8084, where they can do some research to see when your political affiliation was changed and to provide direction on a case by case basis.

The other option is to re-register to vote, but that process must be completed by Feb. 17 in order to vote in the March 3 primary. Voters can register to vote or update their registration status at http://www.registertovote.ca.gov, or by picking up a voter registration card at post offices and libraries throughout the county, or call the County Clerks office and request one be mailed to them. Voters can also access http://www.myvoterstatus.com to see how they are currently registered.

Although California has a top two primary process, where the top two vote-getters regardless of political party will appear on the general election ballot, the presidential election falls under federal law therefore and a modified closed election process is used.

The postcards arent unique to Siskiyou County, Bynum added. Every California county sent them out last week, or they will this week.

History behind Californias primary election system

A closed primary system governed California's primary elections until 1996, according to information on California Secretary of State Alex Padillas website. In a closed primary, only voters who are registered members of a political party may vote the ballot of that political party.

This changed with Proposition 198 after the March 26 primary election. Prop. 198 changed the closed primary system to what is known as a blanket or open primary, in which all registered voters may vote for any candidate, regardless of political affiliation and without a declaration of political faith or allegiance.

On June 26, 2000, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision in California Democratic Party, et. al. v. Jones, stating that Californias open primary system was unconstitutional because it violated a political partys First Amendment right of association, according to the Secretary of States website.

Californias current modified closed primary system for presidential elections took effect on Jan. 1, 2001. Senate Bill 28 implemented the current modified closed primary system that permitted voters who had declined to provide a political party preference to participate in a primary election if authorized by an individual partys rules and duly noticed by the Secretary of State.

An NPP voter may request the ballot of one of the political parties, if any, that authorizes NPP voters to vote in the presidential primary election, which is where the postcards come in.

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Get a confusing notice from the county clerk? Heres what it means - Siskiyou Daily News

Hell have Secretary of State William Galvin, a Democrat, to credit, instead.

Galvin has given all four political parties in Massachusetts -- including the Democratic, Republican, Green-Rainbow and Libertarian parties -- until Friday to submit a list of candidates they want to appear on their Super Tuesday primary ballots.

The lists are one of three ways a candidate can qualify for the presidential ballot in Massachusetts, and the MassGOP on Thursday submitted only the name of incumbent President Trump.

"Having a sitting President as the only name on the potential candidate list is not unprecedented, and is in fact, an established procedure," MassGOP Chair Jim Lyons wrote.

A spokeswoman for Galvin told the News Service on Tuesday that if that were to happen the secretary intended to put Weld's name on the ballot himself.

Weld, who briefly left the Republican Party in 2016 to run as the vice presidential nominee on the Libertarian ticket, is mounting a long-shot primary challenge to President Trump, hoping to damage the incumbent in the process.

The former governor has predicted dire consequences for the Republican Party if Trump is not impeached and removed from office, a message that runs counter to Lyons's support for the president.

Weld spokesman Joe Hunter told the News Service Wednesday that the campaign was in contact with the MassGOP, but would pursue "whichever of the three avenues to the ballot is the most appropriate."

"We are working on ballot access in numerous states on a daily basis, and of course, Massachusetts is at the top of the list," Hunter said.

National Candidates

State law allows the secretary of state to unilaterally put a candidate on the primary ballot if they have determined the candidate to be "generally advocated or recognized in national news media throughout the United States."

The latest WBUR poll of New Hampshire Republicans had the former Massachusetts governor trailing the president with 9 percent of the vote. Trump led Weld 82 percent to 18 percent in an Emerson College poll of Massachusetts Republicans from April.

"I've already had a conversation with Mr. Lyons about this, and I told him that we had done our review and we thought Mr. Weld, as well as a former Congressman from Illinois, were national candidates," Galvin told the News Service on Thursday.

In addition to Weld, the secretary was referring to former Republican Congressman Joe Walsh. There's a fourth potential candidate - Roque de la Fuente - who Galvin said he does not consider to be a nationally recognized candidate who will likely have to turn in 2,500 signatures if he wants to qualify for the GOP primary. De la Fuentes ran as a Democrat in 2016 when he also took the signature route to the ballot.

A spokesman for the Democratic Party said they intended to submit their list to Galvin's office on Friday, and would not provide an early tally of the names that will be on it.

According to Galvin's office, the campaigns of entrepreneur Andrew Yang and Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard have both taken out nomination papers in an "abundance of caution," but it is expected they will be on the Democratic Party's list and will not have to return signatures.

Galvin also said he had spoken to Democratic Party Chairman Gus Bickford about Galvin's belief that Michael Bloomberg should be on the list, even though he was a Republican when he served as mayor of New York City.

I dont think theres any doubt that Bickford is going to put him on, I dont think, but I dont know with Bickford either, Galvin said.

Lyons said that during an incumbent presidency neither political party has submitted names other than that of the sitting president seeking re-election.

"We will follow set protocol and do the same, as has been done before in 2012 under Democratic President Barack Obama and in 2004 under Republican President George W. Bush," Lyons wrote.

Both Obama and Bush ran virtually unopposed in their re-election bids by any nationally known figures with the stature of someone like Weld.

But in 1992, MassGOP Chairman Leon Lombardi only put forward the name of President George H.W. Bush for the ballot, despite the incumbent being challenged by conservative commentator Pat Buchanan. Buchanan did end up getting onto the Massachusetts primary ballot that year, and won almost 75,000 votes, or 28 percent.

The parties, by law, have until Jan. 3 to submit their lists, but Galvin said he's following the same timeline he used during the last cycle in order to prepare ballots ahead of the Jan. 18 deadline to make them available to military and overseas voters.

Galvin plans to hold a drawing to determine the order of placement on the ballots on Dec. 20, and candidates have until Jan. 10 to withdraw and have their names removed.

Tom Mountain, a Trump campaign spokesman in Massachusetts and New Hampshire and a member of the MassGOP state committee, has previously said that Weld should give up on his campaign.

"If he has any dignity he should ride off into the sunset," Mountain told the News Service last month after Weld held an event to call for Trump's impeachment. "No one is taking Bill Weld seriously except Bill Weld."

Gov. Charlie Baker suggested recently that he thought the Republican primary in Massachusetts would be a low-turnout affair with or without Weld on the ballot.

When discussing whether to schedule a special election for a state Senate seat on the same day as the primaries, Baker said, "I think having a general election for a state Senate seat on the same day as a presidential primary when you have numerous candidates running on one side, and for all intents and purposes, one and maybe two depending upon how the secretary of state puts the ballot together, on the other doesn't really give voters an opportunity to tune in on the state Senate race, which is what I would like to see them do in that race."

Baker has described Weld as a political mentor, but so far has declined to endorse his former boss over Trump, who he didnt vote for in 2016 and has frequently disagreed with.

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MassGOP snubs Weld on Mass. ballot access - The Boston Globe

Professedpurveyors of civil liberties refusing to speak out against releasing of privileged phone recordsare sacrificing their cause"on the alter of Trump's impeachment," according civil liberties legal expert Alan Dershowitz on Newsmax TV.

"Every civil libertarian, the ACLU, everybody who cares about civil liberties in the Constitution should be up in arms at the tactics being used by this congressional committee to obtain evidence,"Dershowitz told Monday's "America Talks Live" about Rep. Adam Schiff's, D-Calif., House Intelligence Committee in pursuit of the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

"And, yet, we don't hear a word from civil libertarians, because they like the end result. They want to see Trump impeached, so they're prepared to sacrifice basic civil liberties on the alter of Trump's impeachment."

Dershowitz rejected House Democrats' partisan arguments for grounds ofimpeachment because "none of them satisfy the constitutional criteria for impeachment" and our democracy's check on their abuse of power will come in the November 2020 elections.

"I think people who vote for impeachment without satisfying the constitutional criteria are going to have to pay a price at the ballot box," Dershowitz told host John Cardillo.

Constitutional checks and balances are also being abused by House Democrats in this impeachment attempt, because they are "ignoring" the Judicial branch to "circumvent the Constitution," according to Dershowitz.

"What's going on for the most part in this impeachment is the Democrats are ignoring the third branch of government, the Judicial branch," Dershowitz said. "They want the president to comply with subpoenas without challenging them in court. They want to get records and documents without going through court procedures.

"What we're seeing is kind of diminishing impact of courts, and the courts are supposed to be the referees between the Executive branch and the Legislative branch. And the Legislative branch in this case is eliminating the courts in trying to circumvent the Constitution."

Important: See Newsmax TV now carried in 70 million cable homes, on DirecTV Ch. 349, Dish Network Ch. 216, Xfinity Ch. 1115, Spectrum, U-verse Ch. 1220, FiOS Ch. 615, Optimum Ch. 102, Cox cable, Suddenlink Ch. 102, or Find More Cable Systems Click Here.

2019 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

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Alan Dershowitz to Newsmax TV: Silence of the Libertarians - Newsmax

SACRAMENTO, CA December 11, 2019 Californiacounty elections offices across California are mailing postcards to every No Party Preference voter who is registered to vote-by-mail. These postcards are standard and provide voters with their presidential primary voting options.The American Independent, Democratic, and Libertarian parties are allowing No Party Preference voters to participate in theirMarch 3, 2020Presidential Primary Elections.In order to do so,No Party Preference voters should complete and return this postcard to select and receive a vote-by-mail ballot listing presidential candidates from one of these parties.

Voters are encouraged to return these postcards before the new year if possible, so that elections officials can process their requests in time for ballot printing and mailing.

Advertisement

TheMarch 3, 2020Presidential Primary is now less than 90 days away and voters should start preparing now, Secretary of State Alex Padilla. With the launch of a new How to vote for U.S. President website, direct mailings to voters, and social media campaigns, elections officials are working to educate and assist all eligible Californians. No Party Preference voters, in particular, need to know their options for requesting a ballot with presidential candidates, if they so choose. Voters registered with No Party Preference should be on the lookout for a postcard from your county elections office with options for voting in the presidential primary. Returning this postcard in a timely manner will make for a smoother experience for voters and elections officials alike.

REQUESTING A CROSSOVER BALLOT

No Party Preference voters who do not respond to this postcard will be mailed a ballot without any presidential candidates listed. If after receiving a non-partisan ballot a No Party Preference voters prefers to receive a crossover ballot, they can still request one from their county elections official by:

Voters also have the option of taking their non-partisan vote-by-mail ballot to their polling place (or any vote center in a Voters Choice Act County) and exchange it for a ballot with presidential candidates from the American Independent, Democratic, or Libertarian Party.

HOW TO VOTE FOR PRESIDENT

The Secretary of States office recently launched a new websiteHowToVoteForPresident.sos.ca.govdetailing California voters options for voting for U.S. President in theMarch 3, 2020Presidential Primary.

NO PARTY PREFERENCE VOTERS WHO VOTE IN PERSON No Party Preference voters who vote at the polls, can ask the poll worker for a ballot with either American Independent, Democratic, or Libertarian Party presidential candidates when checking-in at a polling place.

VOTING IN THE GREEN, PEACE AND FREEDOM, OR REPUBLICAN PARTY PRIMARY No Party Preference voters who want to vote for a Green, Peace and Freedom, or Republican Parties presidential candidate, must first re-register with that specific party.

Voters can re-register online atRegisterToVote.ca.gov. If a voter needs to re-registerafter February 17, 2020, a voter who wishes to re-register can do so in person at their polling place, any vote center (VCA counties only), or their county elections office.

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No Party Preference Voters Encouraged to Complete Presidential Primary Ballot Selection Postcards by the New Year - YubaNet

Brian Strietelmeier has voted Democratic in every presidential election since 2008. In 2020, the 34-year-old Prospect man might vote for a Libertarian or even Donald Trump.

Why?

Strietelmeiers top political issue heading into 2020 is not healthcare, or border security or any of the other top issues that seem to have split the electorate.

The candidate who will win his vote will need to be pro-vaping, or at least open to the idea of studying it before making policy changes such as a flavor ban.

Im not asking them to come out, hold up a vape, you know, and take a huge rip and be like, Im with you. I mean, I would love it. But, Im a realist, said Strietelmeier, a print services specialist.

Strietelmeier is not the only vape bloc voter.

In a Morning Consult and Politico poll of 1,988 voters last month, one in 10 former Trump voters said theyd be less likely to vote for a presidential candidate in favor of banning flavors, and 8% said theyd be much less likely.

Other vapers interviewed by LEO said they may vote for a third-party candidate, while others said they might vote for Trump, but all were skeptical of Democratic candidates, most of whom have stayed silent on vaping.

They said they arent against all regulations, such as raising the age for vaping to 21 and requiring vape supplies to be sold in only specialty shops. Mostly, they dont want a ban on flavors, and some just want a candidate who wont demonize vaping.

On Sept. 11, Trump threatened to ban vape flavors, but in November, he backed off, and now vapers like Strietelmeier are still waiting to see if he disavows the idea completely. Libertarians, by definition, arent big fans of government regulation, and that would include vaping regulations.

Not all vapers are single-issue voters.

Danielle Lavigne, who lives in Allen County, Kentucky, said she will consider other issues such as education, job growth and lower taxes. But, the 44-year-old supermarket employee understands why others would let vaping decide their vote. Many issues that candidates bring up dont touch peoples everyday lives, she said. Thats not the case with vaping.

Thats something that affects my life greatly, said Lavigne, who vapes in lieu of smoking, which she did for 26 years.

Still, some people doubt that there are many single-issue voters on vaping on either side of the debate. Skeptics include Ben Chandler, a former Kentucky congressman who is now president and CEO of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, which lobbies for more vaping regulations in the state.

He said he hopes lawmakers wont hold off on passing vaping regulations because of what he called electoral blackmail from vaping lobbyists.

They dont have any evidence on their side that this is a healthy activity, said Chandler.

About that evidence

LEO interviewed four voters, two of them Kentuckians, who said they plan to base their votes in the presidential election solely on vaping. Some have opinions on issues such as immigration, healthcare and abortion, but after quitting smoking with the help of vaping now they believe its imperative to public health to vote with their vapes.

E-cigarettes have fewer toxins than do combustible cigarettes, but a health expert who studied vaping, Aruni Bhatnagar from UofL, has told LEO that just because vaping carries X number of fewer toxins doesnt mean e-cigarettes are X times healthier than smoking. Vaping still produces harmful substances, he said, and the long-term effects of the practice are not known. The recent vaping illnesses that have hospitalized 2,291 people led the CDC to urge people to stop using black market THC vapes and adding their own ingredients to nicotine e-cigarettes and other vaping products. This, after the additive vitamin E acetate was linked to the illness. But, the CDC said, there might be more than one cause and, as such, is advising abstinence from nicotine and THC vapes. Still, vaping has replaced smoking for millions of Americans, according to a report published last year in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Smoking tobacco kills 480,000 people in the United States every year.

Lainey Tipton, a 38-year-old graphic designer from Tennessee, said she smoked cigarettes for 12 years before switching to vaping. Both her parents died from smoking-related lung illnesses.

When asked why vaping has become her main political issue, Tipton said, Because it saves lives.

Honestly, the day my mom died was probably the hardest day of my life, and I still just randomly burst out in tears, said Tipton. And its because of smoking.

For the vapers who spoke with LEO, flavored vapes were integral for transitioning away from smoking cigarettes, although they have continued vaping. Vanilla custard is the one Tipton attributes to helping her quit.

Most vapers interviewed by LEO said that they were consistent voters and registered with particular political groups, but most were free-flowing with their affiliation.

Carl Hughes, a 42-year-old vaper who lives in Pikeville, Kentucky, described himself as not very political.

Which is why its easy for me to be a single-issue voter, said Hughes.

Hughes recently switched from being an independent to Libertarian as Trump toyed with a flavor ban. More needs to be done. He has to come to a decision, said Hughes. Im cautiously optimistic that hes going to do Trump will do the right thing, and if he does, Ill happily campaign for him.

Cherry Lai, a vaper from California whom Hughes knows, said that shes always based her votes on single issues. Last election, it was healthcare.

Lai, a retiree, described herself as a left-leaning moderate, but this election, she plans to vote for Trump.

Strietelmeier is currently leaning toward voting Libertarian, but he said that he would vote for Trump if he took a more pro-vaping stance.

Tipton said she voted for Libertarian Gary Johnson in the last presidential election, but shes also considering Trump in 2020. Nobody else has really spoken out on the issue, and Im going to vote for someone who has a stance on it, said Tipton, and at least hes gone, We need to really consider whats going to happen to the economy and to these peoples lives.

Vaping diehards such as Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, a vaping advocacy organization, think vapers could impact the election.

A lot of vaper voters are people that are largely disaffected, Conley said. And they may not be regular voters, but if you give them a reason to vote, they will turn out.

He pointed to a poll conducted by a Republican firm, McLaughlin & Associations, created for the Vaping Technology Association, that showed 74% of 4,669 vapers surveyed in 17 battleground states would be less likely to vote for Trump if he banned flavored e-cigarettes. Eighty-three percent said they would be likely to vote for or against a candidate based solely on their position on vaping products, the survey found.

Conley said that vapers have already decided elections, specifically, the race that re-elected U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. Johnson thanked vapers in his acceptance speech, saying they made the results possible. Kaiser Health News reported that an owner of an online vape store at the time and former campaign manager for Herman Cain, Mark Block, rallied vapers around Johnson, raising $3,000 with a Vape PAC and sending out around 400,000 mailers. KHN also interviewed Tom Russell, the campaign manager who worked for Johnsons rival, who said it was the Tea Party, not vapers, that had made a difference in the election.

Vapers have organized mostly online, with a We Vape We Vote social media campaign paired with calls to contact representatives, although there have been rallies, including one in Washington, D.C. that attracted around 3,000 people, according to Conley, and another that occurred in Lexington, Kentucky, the day that Trump came to town for a pre-election rally for former Gov. Matt Bevin. Somewhere between 75 and 100 people showed up to that one, hoping to capture the presidents attention.

Vapers seem to have Trump worried.

The New York Times and The Washington Post reported on Nov. 17 that Trump stepped back from a flavor ban partially to keep support from vapers. Perhaps coincidentally, he changed his mind about a ban while on the way to his Kentucky rally, according to an unnamed Trump adviser interviewed by the Post.

The few candidates on the left who have taken a stance on vaping have called for more regulations. For vapers, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg became enemy No. 1 after allocating $160 million to push for flavor bans in at least 20 cities and states. Andrew Yang told The Washington Examiner that the country was headed in the right direction after Trump proposed a flavor ban. And, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has been dinged by vape enthusiasts for urging regulators and companies to increase oversight [and] address health impacts of e-cigarette products.

At this point, I want to see them pay, said Strietelmeier. I want to see them do the right thing, or I want to see them go down on their swords.

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Could Vapers Swing The 2020 Presidential Election? - Louisville Eccentric Observer