Voting in a privilege we have in this country.  Unfortunately, only about 30 % of people vote.  We have had voting rates in the general election go over 50% but this is rare. 

In North Carolina we have a population of apx 8.5 million people, we have 5,567,424 registered voters; 2,533,424 being registerd as Democrat and 1,923,047 Republican the remaining 1,110,953 are registered as unaffiliated.

The below is a compilation of facts about voting and contains some opinions of how you should register and vote to be an effective citizen and make the most of one of our most precious rights those of voting in a free society.

Voter Registration

In NC one may register only one f three ways; Democrat, Republican and Unaffiliated.  There is so such thing as registering as an independent.  You can change your registration any amount of times, you can do this be going to your county boards of elections office, send in your registration by mail or registering when you get your drivers license.  You may only register in one county or one state.  Individual who are registered in more than one state may be committing  voter fraud and in some cases this is a felony.

In you register as a Democrat you may vote only in the Democrat primary, the same holds true if you register as a republican you may vote only in the Republican primary.  One of the common myths is if you do not register in one of these declared party's you may not vote in the primary--not true. 

Opinion: The voter gains the most power and flexibility by registering as  "unaffiliated."  This allows the one who registers as unaffiliated to vote in EITHER primary (not both) and allows the voter to select the candidate they like the most irregardless of party.  If you just love either party you can still vote that way.  This gives you the most flexibility in how you vote.  It also gives you a couple other benefits, you will receive less campaign literature to clog your mail box and you will receive less political phone calls. The party's don't like this as they have less control over the populous as they cannot tell who will blindly vote in the primary for their candidate.  Registering as unaffiliated has no effect on how you vote in the general election.

Voting and how you can be the most effective

When you vote a common myth is that if you don't vote in all the races your ballot will be invalid--not true.  You can vote in every race or just one.  If you vote in just one race you voter is counted in that race, an your ballot is valid.  If you make an error and vote for more than one candidate in a one candidate race your vote in that particular race is rejected but the rest of your ballot will be valid..  In the general election if you vote straight party you vote for all candidates who are in partisan races but you must vote separately for the President. Unaffiliated voters can vote a straight ticket for either party in the general election, of course their is no straight ticket voting in the primary.

Opinion:  Voting a straight party ticket causes you to vote for all in that party.  What about the person in the party that you don't like or don't even know, you vote for them in a straight party vote.  I can't understand why anyone would vote for someone they don't know about or have never even heard of.  Party's like to see straight ticket voting because they believe you are not smart enough to pick candidates from the pool on the ballot.  My suggestion is pick a race you are interested in and have time to research, then vote in that race.  Do this for all the races you re interested in.  If there are other races and you have no idea who the candidate is or what he/she stands for don't vote in that particular race.   YOU are responsible for the person you vote for and if they get elected YOU are responsible for their actions.

The Primary:

One of most import but most ignored in the primary.  Not all Democrats or Republicans are equal.  In the race for the governor here in NC the primary will decide who will be your next governor.  Voting in the primary is as or even ,more important than the vote in the general election.

Opinion:  We have not had a Republican governor in NC since 1992 and given the view of the Republican party nationally it is highly unlikely we will have a Republican governor in 2008.  This makes the primary the most important race for governor in 2008.  Who wins the democratic primary will be the next governor of NC.  If you want to be a part of the process and make a difference you must vote in the primary.  The very best way to vote in the primary is by registering as unaffiliated and voting for the democratic candidate you believe will best represent you, even if you are a conservative you can vote for the most conservative Democratic candidate thus insuring a conservative will be elected. 

BACK