Go vote!

I spent awhile on the web the other night trying to figure out the Texas primaries. It hasn’t mattered in so long that I think it’s been easy to be complacent. This is the first time in ages I remember even seeing political ads on TV. They really do care about us! At least when there’s not a Bush or a Bentsen in the race. The following applies to those of us who were not forward thinking enough to vote early. If you’ve already voted, congratulations on avoiding the lines!

As far as I can tell, you can vote in either primary on March 4, but they will then stamp your card so that you can’t go vote in the other. Then, at 7 p.m. that night, when the polls close, you have the opportunity to return to your polling location and participate in a caucus. Yes, we have both! I just sort of figured out superdelegates and then I find out you can vote early and often in Texas. Here’s a FAQ: http://dallassouthblog.com/2008/02/23/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-texas-primary-and-precinct-convention-caucus/
Here’s the Republican explanation, if you can wade through it: http://www.texasgop.org/site/PageServer?pagename=RPTBasics

A lot of questions are answered here: http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/voter/index.shtml and a lot more were raised. Note this, though:

>>If you are a registered voter in the state of Texas, you will simply choose your party and vote in that party's primary. To explain, we do not register by party in Texas. One becomes "affiliated" with a party by voting in a party's primary and the affiliation lasts for that primary year. As an example, if a voter voted in the March 2006 primary or April 2006 runoff primary, the voter affiliated with that party for the rest of that year, but on December 31, 2006 the affiliation expired. The affiliation means that the person may not vote in another party’s primary or participate in another party’s convention or sign an independent candidate’s petition for place on the ballot if the independent candidate’s position appears on the primary ballot. Note that in the general election in November, a voter may vote for whomever he/she wishes, regardless of how or whether he/she voted in the primary or runoff primary election, since all candidates are on the same ballot.<<

In regard to messing with the Democrats by voting for whoever you don’t want to win, note the Feb. 25 entry at this blog: http://blogs.chron.com/kuffsworld/election_2008/

The Democrat and Republican ballots are here, for Denton County: http://elections.dentoncounty.com/go.asp?Dept=82&Link=975 Search on your county elections at Google to find your precinct number and view a sample ballot.

I still don't know who I'll vote for. What happened to that third party we were promised?