Why "Cross-over" voting in a primary is a legitimate practice

One of the candidates who recently sent in his response to our questionnaire added a note at the bottom that says this: "Your Vol. 47 No. 2 Page 1 [IPEA's newsletter] was very offensive to any person who is running for office.  People must stand for correct principles and vote accordingly. Cross-over voting should be made illegal!!!" 

Its ironic that in this case he would benefit if people follow our advice and vote in the primary based on issues that are important to IPEA.  He is running as a Republican, and his positions are much more favorable to IPEA than his incumbent rival, and there is no opponent to the Republican in the general.  Those people who would like to vote for a Democrat will not have that choice in the general, so they need to vote for the Republican who supports more of their issues in the primary election.  And in this case, he's it! 

This "cross-over" voting argument has apparently disturbed some candidates.  In fact, I will be doing an interview on right-leaning talk radio in eastern Idaho on Wednesday at noon because this radio host saw the newsletter.  He thinks "cross-over" voting is unethical. That candidate and radio host are both wrong.  

What they think of as "cross-over" voting is when you vote in the primary of the other party (the one you don't like) in order to sabotage an election.  That's not what we were advocating.  But even if we were, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.  IPEA was encouraging "strategic" voting. For instance, if you normally vote Republican but you live in a Democrat leaning District, and there is a contested primary in the Democratic party, you could "cross over" and vote in the Democratic primary for the candidate you feel would best address your issues if that candidate is elected in the general election.  Then you can still vote for the Republican in the general election, but if your guy loses, at least you have the Democrat that most closely fits your views.  

Neither strategic voting OR cross-over voting are unethical and should not be illegal, and here is why:

Each of us has one vote.  The purpose of our vote is to influence the outcome of an election in order to elect the person we want for the job.  That vote is ours to use as we see fit.  If you want to use your vote to influence a primary, then you should absolutely use your vote in that way.  It's all you have.  It's not only NOT unethical or illegal, it is your PATRIOTIC DUTY.  So don't let anyone tell you otherwise.  

And here's a note to the Republican party in Idaho.  There is a move in the party to close the primary.  This would mean that you would have to register as either a Republican or a Democrat to vote in the primary.  They seem to think this would stop "cross-over" or "strategic" voting.  They are wrong.  Even in a closed primary, all you have to do is register for the party so you can vote in their primary, then you can still vote for the other party in the general if you want.

The Republican party would hurt itself by closing the primary because this will disenfranchise the independent voters who are not afraid to cross party lines to elect the right candidate for the job. And the number of independent voters is growing in Idaho as well as everywhere else in the country, and the last thing either party should do is discourage them from participating in the primary process. If you consider yourself to be an Independent, this move from the Republican party should offend you.

IPEA's Political Action

I received a letter in the mail criticizing IPEA's recent newsletter, but the writer didn't sign it so I can't reply directly.  I don't know if this letter was from a member or someone else who read our newsletter. I sent a copy to all candidates for the Idaho legislature.  For that reason, I'm addressing the letter here.    

The letter said "I find it somewhat disturbing that you would ... criticize the Republicans in the Idaho Legislature".  Here's a link to IPEA's  Political Action Statement.  Please make a special note of #5. IPEA focuses on issues, not parties. The letter accuses us of "bashing" Republicans, but it is a reality that the Republicans in the Idaho House of Representatives moved in lockstep to kill the PERSI retiree's COLA in the last session.  We criticized them because of their actions on this issue, not because they are Republicans. We sang the praises of Sen. Andreason for stopping the legislation.  Sen. Andreason is a Republican.

The letter asks "Have you been told that the Republicans force them to vote the party line?"  Yes.  Republicans are often strong-armed by the majority party leadership to vote the party line.  Some of them lean towards supporting our issues, only to withdraw support after the majority party leadership puts the screws to them. That doesn't mean we should give them a pass. We wish more Republican legislators had the courage to stand up to party leadership. When Sen. Cameron, a Republican, stood up to Mr. Gwartney, we sang his praises as well. 

The letter said we "add fuel to the argument for Republicans to close the primary election".  That may be true.  But even if that happened, it wouldn't stop someone from registering and voting as a Republican in the primary and then voting differently in the general election.

The letter says "It appears that you only contact Democrats, except for Rep. Trail and Sen. Andreason, to carry your legislation.  Have you tried working with any Republicans on any legislation?"  The answer to that is an emphatic "YES!"  IPEA staff and volunteers spend far more time lobbying Republicans than we do Democrats.  We know that in a legislature controlled by one party, that's what we need to do.   

So here's a challenge to the writer of that letter and to all of you:  If you are a member, please attend IPEA's General Council on May 8 in Boise.  You can voice your opinion on how we should move forward.  This is a much more effective way to influence IPEA's policy than an anonymous letter.  Here's a registration form:  http://www.ipeaonline.org/Registration.pdf