By S.D. Plissken | September 5, 2018
The NH State Primary election takes place next Tuesday, September 11, between 8:00 AM and 7:00 PM. The polling place will be again at the Milton Assembly of God Church at 370 White Mountain Highway.
There will be three ballots from which to choose: Democratic, Republican, and Libertarian.
Events of the last two presidential elections might give one pause in regard to this whole primary process. Republican delegates pledged to Ron Paul were not acknowledged at their party convention in 2012. Democratic delegates pledged to Bernie Sanders encountered similar problems in 2016. And there was that whole Wikileaks thing that revealed rigging by the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
The Bernie Sanders campaign sued the DNC over it. The suit went nowhere, but it was revealing. At one point, a DNC lawyer, Bruce Spiva, argued before the judge that the Democratic Party was a private organization and, as such, was not bound by any actual ballot results.
Wait … what did he say?
We could have voluntarily decided that, ‘Look, we’re gonna go into backrooms like they used to and smoke cigars and pick the candidate that way.’ That’s not the way it was done. But they could have. And that would have also been their right.
Republican Party officials said similar things regarding the Ron Paul delegates during the 2012 campaign. The Libertarian Party, Green Party, and others have not covered themselves in glory either. (The Democrats have since changed their rules, so as to prevent Bernie from upsetting them further).
Okay. A private organization does what it thinks best … best for them, that is. That makes sense. By all means, have a good time at the party, dear.
But it does beg the question: you are going to pay for this yourselves, right? You would not want to stick the undeclared plurality with the bill for your private party.
References:
Milton Town Clerk. (2018, August 31). September 11, 2018 Notice of State Primary Election. Retrieved from www.miltonnh-us.com/uploads/taxes_292_2284148664.pdf
Milton Town Clerk. (2018, August 31). September 11, 2018 Sample State Primary Ballots. Retrieved from www.miltonnh-us.com/uploads/taxes_291_2086530106.pdf
Washington Examiner. (2017, May 1). DNC Argues in Court: We Don’t Owe Anyone a Fair Primary Process. Retrieved from www.washingtonexaminer.com/dnc-argues-in-court-we-dont-owe-anyone-a-fair-primary-process/article/2621767
Washington Post. (2017, August 25). Florida Judge Dismisses Fraud Lawsuit Against DNC. Retrieved from www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/08/25/florida-judge-dismisses-fraud-lawsuit-against-dnc/
Gore, Lesley. (1963, March 30). It’s My Party. Retrieved from www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5Cc5t72G8s
Milton Observer 