Politics & Government

Nonpartisan Voters To Get Crossover Invite For June 5 Election

If you're an independent, watch your mail for important election information.

By Stephen Pierce

Special to Suisun City Patch

Voters who have not declared their political party preference will soon receive an invitation to cast a Democratic, American Independent, or nonpartisan ballot in the June 5, 2012 direct primary election.

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“The invitation carries the Official Election Mail logo and will be hard to miss,” said Lindsey McWilliams, Solano County Assistant Registrar of Voters.

The nearly 28,000 registered nonpartisan voters, also called No Party Preference voters, are being asked to check off on the invitation which ballot statement booklet they would like to receive and to return it to the Registrar of Voters office by March 30.

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Voters in the upcoming June election will select partisan candidates only for President. Congress, state Assembly, and state Senate races are now “voter nominated offices” where voters will be able to vote for a candidate from any party.  The top-two vote getters in these races will appear on the November ballot.  In addition, the June election will consider three nonpartisan county supervisor seats, a countywide measure to extend the one-eighth percent sales tax supporting local libraries, and two state measures.

State law allows nonpartisan voters to request a party ballot for any political party permitting crossover voting.  For the June 5 election, the Democrat and American Independent parties are allowing nonpartisan voters to request a party ballot. The Republican party is not allowing crossover voting in the June primary.

“This is potentially confusing for voters,” McWilliams said.  “We are hoping that the mailer will grab the attention of the No Party Preference voters so they will read it and have a better understanding of their options in June.”

The decision by political parties to allow crossover voting only applies to presidential primary elections and changes from one election to the next.

As a reminder, May 21 is the last day to register to vote in the June election and May 29 is the last day to request a vote-by-mail ballot through the mail. For more voter information, go to www.solanocounty.com and click on the Voter Information Quick Link.


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