I've been noticing a trend lately of people wondering why we have closed primaries, why there are registration deadlines, and why people who aren't registered in a party can't participate. This post is to serve as a bit of a primer for people who are new to the process. First, let's look at...

WHAT IS A PARTY

A political party is a voluntary collection of similarly minded people who agree to work together for political gain. This is both good and bad, as we all know, but the fact of the matter is humans like to maximize their victories and minimize effort. So working together to accomplish goals, even if they're not perfect, far beats striving for perfection alone.

So you have in pretty much every country political parties. The US has many parties, however we have two main parties: The Democratic Party (Center/Left) and the GOP (Republican) Party (or Right-Wing/Conservative). There is also the Socialist Party, Green Party, Libertarian Party, Nazi Party, etc. But we have those two looming big ones which wield a lot of power (hint: the larger your party, the more power and influence you have).

It is important to note that political parties are public/private organizations. They're private in that their business is conducted and determined ONLY by party members. Not outsiders. Not the other party. Very similar to corporations in terms of shareholders, unions in terms of members, or cities in terms of residents.

You can't vote for the board of directors for ABC corp if you don't have shares. You can't vote for a Union Leader if you're not part of the union. You can't vote on a city ballot measure if you live in unincorporated Bumfuckistan. This is a fact of life: you're not always entitled to participate in private entities. Political parties are private entities.

WHAT IS A PRIMARY

A primary is a contest to help determine who will represent the party membership in an election. This is important to remember. It's not determining who will represent the entire nation, or undecided voters who are not affiliated, it is solely determine who will represent the party.

WHY ARE PRIMARIES CLOSED, HAVE DEADLINES, ETC?

As I pointed out in discussing what a party is, the reason why primaries are often closed or have deadlines is because the only people who should be participating are party members. If you chose to not join a party, you don't get to participate. Much like if you never buy shares of Delta Airlines, but wake up one day and decide you want Sasha Baron Cohen to be the new president, you're shit out of luck: not a shareholder, no voice, no vote.

By choosing to remain outside of a political party, you are choosing to not have a voice in that political party. If you want to have a voice in a political party, you must become a member OF that political party.

FAQs

What if someone doesn't know who they're going to vote for until 10 minutes before polls close?

Well, they should have figured out a long time ago whether or not they want to participate in a political party, what political party they want to participate in, and registered with that party.

Some people within a party don't always know who they will support until they're in the booth. "Do I choose Clinton? I sure did like the 1990's. But that Bernie fellow has some great ideas... hmmmmmmmmmm..." It happens. BUT, the big difference between them and the people standing outside staring at their "unaffiliated" voter card and crying they can't vote is... THEY JOINED THE PARTY.

If you want to participate in a party, join a party.

But I hate partisan politics/want to remain free to vote for whomever

Guess what? YOU STILL CAN! If you're a registered Democratic Party member, despite not being able to participate in the GOP nominating process, if you wake up the morning of the general election and go "You know, the Democratic Party guy for Governor is a dick. I like that family-values Republican!" and you can march down and vote for him/her! You're still free to vote whomever you want! There are disadvantages to this as you're voting against your own party's interests, but you're still free to do it. No one will know. (Pssttt.. when I first could vote, I was a registered Green but voted for the Republican nominee because the person put up for Democratic Party nominee for Governor of my state sucked and I knew the Republican was a decent guy).

But doesn't this perpetuate the broken two-party system

Perhaps... but being a Unaffiliated voter doesn't do anything other than rob yourself of power and influence. Your neighbor who is a Precinct Committee person has 1,000x more power than you. Why? At least in Colorado (this is true for many other states) if a house/legislative seat is vacated (house member dies, retires, whatever) the PCPs for the house district participate in picking the replacement. House District 3 here in Colorado is someone who got his seat initially through this process! And because he's a good guy and incumbents have an advantage, he's kept his seat!

Ok, but what if I REALLY don't like the Democratic Party but still want to vote for Bernie

You have two options: Become a member before your state's deadline... or hope he wins the nomination. That's it, Jack. You don't have other options. Your Non-partisan status exempts you from this.

Why not have open primaries or same-day registration?

Open primaries are bad due to brigading, first off. Your guy is a shoe-in for the nomination but you want to make sure the other side nominates the guy with crooked teeth and an even more crooked soul? Brigade that shit. It happens. You don't want it to happen to your party. Same day registration for people who are currently non-partisan and have been for at least a year or so could be a good thing, but it would have to be carefully crafted to prevent brigading.

OK, so I get all of this but disagree with it! We should all get to vote! We're being disenfranchised!

First off, no, you're not. You're not entitled to participate in a party you don't belong to. Much like you have no right to participate in a company you don't own, a city you don't live in, or a union you don't belong to. So get that to sink in.

Second, you're not disenfranchised because you're not voting for an office, you're voting for a nominee. A representative of a party. Would you want people from New York being able to come to your state and participate in your Senate or House elections, just because what happens in Congress affects them? NO! You wouldn't! Primaries are for party members only. Period.

Lastly: It doesn't matter if you disagree... it's how the world works. I disagree with gravity. It makes me heavier than I'd like. Doesn't mean I can change it and still stay on Earth.

But, but, I love Bernie!

Alas, so do I. I have since I was in High School. He made me feel comfortable expressing that I am a Democratic Socialist. He and I both agree: it's easier to do a political revolution by changing a party from within (as he is doing) than standing up a whole new party and trying to beat the bigger monster. Democrats have universal ballot access. The Green Party does not. And while I agree with the Greens more, the likelihood of that party ever getting it's shit together (and I was a registered and participating party member for a while, I know how it runs on the inside) is going to be a cold day in hell. It's a fringe party that has a bad habit of running shit candidates and being lead by the same kind of people who think Monsanto is out to kill us all, GMOs are full of horrible cancer-causing chemicals, etc. (lefty conspiracy theorists). I love much of the platform, but bawgawd it's batshit insane on the inside.

But if you haven't noticed, Bernie had to become a member of the Democratic Party to run on the Democratic Party Ticket!

But I didn't know about him before yesterday

And to that I have to say... I'm really sorry to hear you're so disconnected with the world. Pick up some podcasts, try to become more globally aware. Read more news, less blogs. The MSM may need to be taken with a grain of salt, it still is a great source of information. I first heard about Bernie through MSNBC! YEARS AGO! If you live under a rock, I can't have sympathy for you. Sorry, but this is 2016. Between NPR Terrestrial Radio, Podcasts, TV, the Internet, etc. there is no excuse for being disconnected from what is going on in the world. None.

You're a wanker, Mr. GringodelRio

This is probably true.

Why should I listen to you? What are your credentials?

I attended the American Legion Boys' State program in high school. Look it up, it's a great program that teaches how government works (they also have Girls' State for the ladies). I also was at one time majoring in Political Science, but that taught me little of what I know. The rest was high school level social studies that I didn't fall asleep in and ALBS. Beyond that... I just take the time to become aware of my surroundings and I engage as much as I can to varying degrees in my political system because citizen involvement is critical. Failing to do that is how we get corrupt systems. Sunlight disinfects, and the only way sunlight gets in is if citizens care and pay attention, and journalists are on the beat. The former helps pay for the latter and works as a team.

Whew, that's it. That's my civics primer. I hope that people will read this whole thing, take it to heart, and understand the system is not out to screw you... you have to know and play by the rules, and that the rules are there for damn good reasons even if you don't know what they are. You may disagree with them too, and are free to encourage change and maybe you'll be successful. That's how representative republics work.