though it is of some concern to me that your first reaction is to attempt to drive another wedge into our party.

Why is that?

I doubt that they would do this.
This is more likely the work of GOTP operatives.

There really is such a party, it met the criteria in the state to be on the voter registration list, and its name was accurately represented on the documentation.

I don't think that California is able to include 'don't sign up with these creeps - they're racist neo-Nazis!' on the documentation...

Many people are naive and believe that the DNC does not get money from Wall Street and does not support the Military Industrial Complex and does not support going to war and that the Clintons are not close friends and partners of the Bush family. So yes, you are right that the DNC could have done this.

Sounds to me like a "Failure to read the fine print" plot!

"Duhhhhhh....it's got 'Independent' in it, so it MUST be GOOD!"

Facebook, Twitter, phone calls, just TALK it up!

I was actually surprised that the Times covered it...hope it didn't cut into their 24/7 Rump and PukeBagger coverage...

Also New York magazine =/= the New York Times just because they both have the words 'New York' in them. It's ironically amusing that you'd make this mistake on a thread about people mistakenly signing up for a party they probably don't want to be a member of.

No Party Preference.

http://voteforbernie.org

*Another Post from Yesterday, *Impt. CALIFORNIA VOTING Info., Contacts, Registration Deadline:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/104013623

Anyone who made this mistake, simply wasn't paying enough attention.

Online registration is actually confusing -- the form implies that selecting the correct option means you won't be able to vote for President. Instead of saying "select if you have No Party Preference" they say choose this if you do not want to DISCLOSE a political party preference (implying that you may have a preference but don't want to disclose it.) Those are two different things.

here is the wording from the site (emphasis mine)

No, I do not want to disclose a political party preference. *
(If you select no, you may not be able to vote for some parties' candidates at a primary election for the U.S. president or party committee.)

_____

Further, it says American Independent, not American Independent PARTY, so it is not clear that is an actual party just by those two words alone.

_____

Lastly, some of those who made the error were VERY involved in politics, so this 'paying enough attention' wouldn't necessarily apply. Among the 300,000 or so were Patrick Schwarzenegger, son of the former governor (a family spokesman said he now plans to change his registration), Geralyn Buscaino, wife of Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino, and Jennifer Siebel Newsom, wife of Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom -- oh, and even two staff members of The Times.

_____

Also, I was VERY MUCH paying attention while changing my affiliation online, and made the error. With all the strange things going on in Arizona, something told me to check further into it and that is when I realized I had done the same thing, so I updated it manually.

Further, it says American Independent, not American Independent PARTY, so it is not clear that is an actual party just by those two words alone.

Q: does the form use the word "party" for the D and R choice?

I was wondering the same thing. Any idea?

At the top of this link they show a close up of the voter registration form:
http://static.latimes.com/american-independent-party-california-voters/
I can't show it here - it is a GIF.

It's unfortunate that since they list the parties in alphabetical order, AIP is first, followed by "Democratic Party," "Green Party," Libertarian Party," "Peace and Freedom Party," and "Republican Party" - http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/political-parties/qualified-political-parties/

The same site has a page for statements of purpose from each recognized party: http://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/political-parties/

And a page explaining No Party Preference Information: http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/political-parties/no-party-preference/

It's not as if any of this is hidden. It's more likely the people registering are not paying attention.

I mistakenly joined that party.... fixed it a few months later.

These are the people we pander to every election.

Living at home, in high school, not able to vote until 21. Deary deary me, the woman should be burned at the stake for not seeing the light until she got into college. No excuses -- not even allowing for the fact that she worked on the Eugene McCarthy campaign in '68.

try again. you funny

I'm really sorry you chose to remain uninformed. Have a nice day, though.

Pot and alcohol impair the brain.

I'm a Bernie supporter and a 76 year old woman. Don't insult me and others like that. It's not cool.

lifelong Democrat living in Florida.

I'm 77 TODAY!! I love your spunk!

Coming from a camp that has screamed up about sexism and racism and dishonesty on the other side while staunclhy defending a corporate crook like Hillary.

Way to go to win that election in November if Hillary and DNC steals the election.

With this attitude, the DNC will lose an entire generation of voters and the presidency...And don't blame anyone else for ones own snotty attitude. Reminds me too much about some juvenile delinquent who follows Alex Jones.

Amazing.

I recommend that all of Bernie's fans pool their resources and start a public information campaign to round up all those strayed sheep and bring them home to the Democratic Party so they can vote for Bernard.

Like Hillary, the first candidate I worked for was Senator Eugene McCarthy (D), and one of the other candidates for president that year was Governor George Wallace (AIP). I remember what a rabid *hole he was then, too.

Turning 21 in 1968 was a real trip. Despite the terrible grief, one of the things that came out of that crucible for many of us was that we became lifelong Democrats because we could see the alternatives.

That was the name of George Wallace's party in 1968

No, being "independent" does not make you special, jerkoff.

CORRUPTION, to expect a hide if I flag your disgusting post.

I deeply regret donating to this site and am grappling leaving because of the low brow posters like yourself.

....and membership has its privileges: you can put everyone you don't like on Ignore, and your days will be peaceful.

I have been since I registered to vote at age 18.

You will not shame me on Democratic Underground.

29% and Republicans 26%. As a Democrat and American the increase in Independent voters and the steady decline of the two corporate Coke & Pepsi political parties is very important to acknowledge and take into account. That is If you're interested in winning elections. But continue denigrating "idiots", aka Independents.

Thank you for providing a link for registration online (CA voters). This will be helpful for many.

conservative.

And since that was then and this is now, they got to call themselves what they wanted, not what you want. They got there first.

Things don't always mean what you think they mean.

They have no one to blame but themselves.

for anyone except a nasty racist in the primaries.

Although frankly I don't think this is such a good thing because it ends up marginalizing small parties.

if you state a party, that's your party primary, if you decline to state, you can vote in any party.

I often forget to make that distinction.

There's a reason why they're the biggest third party in California, and it's not because California has more Nazi's than Green's. The name was selected BECAUSE it causes confusion and gets them registered. It's the best advertising the party could ask for, and more importantly, it gets them a list of politically active people to reach out to every year.

This party is a big part of the reason why California changed the old "Decline To State" option to "No Party Preference" for independent voters. Decline To State was somewhat unclear for people unfamiliar with the party system, and it suggested that you HAVE a party and simply wish to hide it. NPP was implemented to eliminate the confusion.

I'm an NPP, and have been since the open primaries were first implemented in 2004.

The Independence Party has an enrollment of persons who aren't particularly politically aware who believed they were registering as independents rather than enrolling is a minor political party comprised of crackpots. It's a travesty.

This is becoming a pattern.

Hmmm, and I made sure a month ago to register, again.

Only need the Addy, zip, birthdays.. No other option

California uses a semi-closed system for its primary contests. Voters registered as Democrats and Republicans can vote in those primaries, as can those without a party preference -- the unaligned voters -- can also vote. So even if someone did mistakenly registered with the wrong party, they still can't vote in either major party's primary.

It's one of the biggest problems we face in politics, and there are people here, on this progressive liberal site laughing about it.

Sad, sad day.

Maybe from one of those Latin American countries we tutored so well. Get Jimmy Carter to oversee the overseers .

it might be a viable way to force the California Democratic Party to move in a more progressive direction

Sincerely, a member of DEMOCRATIC Underground.

If they're too gullible and/or stupid to register correctly after jumping through whatever hoops are necessary, am I supposed to care?

I mean, I hope folks fix it, but holy fuck, that form is simple to understand.