Who Wants To Be... MAYOR!

aaaaaa said:
This is not true for statewide elections either, unless by you independent you mean registered Independent. If you are unenrolled you may choose to vote in the primary for the Republican or Democratic ticket, but not both.
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Actually, any voter can take the primary ballot for either the Democratic or the Republican candidates. The state used to change your affiliation from your current affiliation to whichever party's ballot you chose, but I don't believe they do that anymore.

Regardless, the mayoral election is a non-partisan, preliminary/run-off election system. So yes Armpits can vote.
 
Not sure about that guys. I recently had to update my license and the guys at the RMV asked me to choose a political party, so I chose Independent. When I got my voter registration in the mail, it came with a note that said I couldn't vote in the primaries. I could re-read it, but alas I threw it out.
 
armpitsOFmight said:
Not sure about that guys. I recently had to update my license and the guys at the RMV asked me to choose a political party, so I chose Independent. When I got my voter registration in the mail, it came with a note that said I couldn't vote in the primaries. I could re-read it, but alas I threw it out.
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Okay. I brushed up on my Mass Politics textbook from college...and we're all partially right.

In Massachusetts we have a semi-closed or modified-closed primary system. Voters who are enrolled as Democrats or Republicans may only receive a primary ballot for the party in which they're enrolled. Registered, but unenrolled voters may choose either ballot when they check in to vote. Currently, your unenrolled status is preserved and is not changed based on your ballot choice.

As for "Independents", that is not a recognized term in Massachusetts electoral law. You're either enrolled as a Democrat, Republican or Libertarian; or else you are unenrolled.
 
Ultimately then, any registered voter in Boston can participate in the upcoming preliminary election for Mayor.
 
My stomach hurts.

This is why they should rename "unenrolled" as "non-party" which, from what Matthew says, appears at least in some places ... but I don't think universally. As it is now, some people think "unenrolled" means unregistered and some people think "independent" means "unenrolled / non-party".

A cynic would think the two actual parties (Democrats & Republicans) have done this on purpose.

There are several political "designations" with "independent" as part of their names which, sadly, seems to be what Mr Armpit signed up for at the RMV. My guess is the RMV employee just guessed which one to check off on the form.

I checked - there are THREE designations with the word "independent" in them ... an one with the word "interdependent".

Lovely.

http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elepar/paridx.htm
 
As someone who does voter registration drives, I occasionally have to direct someone to the "No Party" option when they ask, but most people get it. The form only has Democratic, Republican, Green, No Party, and Other (write-in) options.

For the record, I have had one person write-in "Pirate" and another wrote "Communist"

Fun times.
 
uggh....I can't remember which one he checked. I can see in 20 years when I'm running for office, the Boston Globe will print the following headline: "armpitsOFmight was once a member of the Interdependence Party, a neo-nazi skinhead party!"
 
^you're stumped because you live in JP. It's always funny when I run into a know-it-all JPer who doesn't think left fascism exists.
 
Hutchison said:
commie nazis?
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Communism= international socialism imposed by self anointed "elite".
National Socialism= socialism in one country of "Aryans" imposed by self anointed "elite".
Fascism= socialism in one country imposed by self anointed "elite".
Stalinism= communism in one country imposed by self anointed "elite".

Common elements= socialism + authoritarianism

So "commie nazis" is not as paradoxical as one might think. They are just the ugly progeny of those who always know what is best for you, and who want to use government to impose their idea of what is "good" for you.
 
tobyjug said:
Communism= international socialism imposed by self anointed "elite".
National Socialism= socialism in one country of "Aryans" imposed by self anointed "elite".
Fascism= socialism in one country imposed by self anointed "elite".
Stalinism= communism in one country imposed by self anointed "elite".

Common elements= socialism + authoritarianism

So "commie nazis" is not as paradoxical as one might think. They are just the ugly progeny of those who always know what is best for you, and who want to use government to impose their idea of what is "good" for you.
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I'm skeptical of your definition of socialism... all modern western countries are socialist to a degree. Including this one. For many many years before Obama came to office.

But I'd rather not get into a rar-socialism debate on an architecture forum, sufficed to say, that your definitions of those types of dictatorships are a bit skewed in the "rar-socialism" direction.
 
I wasn't aware that chatting and trolling were the same thing. The more you know.
 
^not sure how you made that connection. Trolling is an art form and each artists paints his/her canvas (an internet thread) with something unique. Chatting is normal dialogue between people. I hope I helped you understand this!
 
I'm also highly dubious of your definition of communism...but in any case I withdraw my Simpsons reference. Apparently this is an all too serious issue to discuss...
 
armpitsOFmight said:
^umm....this is the general section so we can chat about anything we want.
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Discuss away! I said that I don't want to get sucked a discussion regarding the proper definition of various forms of economies and dictatorships. It's a waste of my time and my energy.
 
armpitsOFmight said:
^not sure how you made that connection. Trolling is an art form and each artists paints his/her canvas (an internet thread) with something unique. Chatting is normal dialogue between people. I hope I helped you understand this!
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Is this meta-trolling? Trolling about trolling...
 
Hutchison said:
I'm also highly dubious of your definition of communism...but in any case I withdraw my Simpsons reference. Apparently this is an all too serious issue to discuss...
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BAT, I didn't define socialism, so I plead innocent to your charge!

Hutch, communism is tough to define, isn't it? Even its founders failed to define it. That was the problem Lenin had when the theorized world revolution failed to materialize after 1917. How could there be communism unless it was worldwide? "I know..." says Lenin, "..we weren't quite ready, so let's have an NEP to bridge the gap." But he dies, and Stalin brooms the theoreticians (plus millions more) and says "we will have socialism in one country and export communism at the tip of a bayonet".

I wonder how you "export" what you theoretically don't have. But it all was being made up as they went along, a sort of political rather than "scientific" Lysenkoism.

We are left to define it by its objective manifestations rather than its theoretical intent. Authoritarian, check. Self avowed "socialists", check. Progeny of leftism, check. Multi-millions dead, check.
 
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Well, that was a nice discussion about the election. We made it a whole page!
 
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