Tuesday, September 05, 2006

my burden as an Independent

Well I could not vote today in Florida's Primary Election.

And not because of my numerous felony convictions- okay, I have no felony convictions (but, don't get me started on that). No, I am registered as an Independent. In Florida, if you register as an Independent you are not allowed to vote until the General Election in early November.

The backwardness of the election laws of our fair state continue to amaze me. In the other states I have had the pleasure of registering to vote in (Virginia, Massachusetts, Texas), I have always been able to cast a vote in the primaries. Many states allow voters to register "undeclared" and only declare their party desires on the day of the election (so I could vote in 2002 in the Republican primaries and 2004 in the Democratic primary, as long as I did not try to register or vote in 2 different primaries or run-offs in the same year). Other states allow Independents to choose in advance the election they want to vote in.

However, in Florida they discourage Independence. In fact, when we registered in 2004 we were encouraged to "pick a party" since we would have little say otherwise.

This causes me much frustration due to my Anabaptist leanings (definitely historically Baptist). It is my belief that I must not affiliate strongly with either party because of my affiliation with Christ and call to be a prophet. It is difficult to be a prophet within a party (relatively impossible actually)- I can not imagine Amos or Isaiah picking dedicating themselves to one party over the other. If I am a Democrat and dedicate myself to their advancement, it is difficult to be prophetic to them or Republicans. I am not interested in that.

Also, they are both inherently corrupt and care much more about their own advancement and power than about serving the nation and bettering it- this reason stands in opposition to my Christian faith.

So, common Florida, throw me a bone. Step into the 21st Century (on many voting issues).

In case you were wondering, I wanted to vote in the Republican primary today. Why? I wanted to have the distinct pleasure of voting against Katherine Harris twice this fall in the Senatorial race.

4 comments:

p8 said...

I saw some early returns that showed McBride ahead, and I did a happy dance, then I realized it was just my county's numbers. So don't blame us.

I picked a party so I could have somebody to vote for. Let's just say it's not the approved Baptist party.

Mike Murrow said...

dude that is so jacked up.

james said...

Jacked indeed. Well, that's Florida for you. The state that prevented tens of thousands of minorities from voting in both the 2000 and '04 elections. Don't be surprised if Harris gets her senate seat, despite voter intent to the contrary.

Human said...

Peace to you and yours Rick.
I'm a registered Indy too. As the party canidates are already chosen before the sheeple enter the booth you should not feel so bad aboout not getting a chance to vote for any. I do like the idea of voting against that harlot twice though.