I am what some might call an “independent” voter. I don’t find it a useful label. What this means in Pennsylvania is that, if I wish to participate in the primary, I must temporarily change my voter registration from ‘unaffiliated’ to one party or the other as the primary season approaches.
Whatever you might have heard from lazy people lamenting ‘closed primaries’, this registration change is not a burden. It is quite easily accomplished by sending a mail-in postcard form to my county election board or online via the PA Department of State website. This allows me not just to vote on primary day, but also to participate in signing and circulating nomination petitions, etc.
Thousands of “so-called independent” PA voters do much as I do each cycle. We are not a monolith. People do it each in their own way, with their own (sometimes wildly different) political aims in mind. Yes, one has to keep in mind the deadlines, but again, this is not a burden as the window for making the affiliation change falls pretty much in line with when normal people start thinking about the election. It is like spring training to an MLB fan. Anybody unaware of the season has arrived maybe isn’t really a fan of the game.
But looking ahead to 2020, my quandary is whether to change my affiliation to Republican or Democratic. Registering as an (R) will allow me to actively encourage primary challengers to the (mostly) Republican incumbents who represent my red-leaning area, and it will allow me to vote for other-than-Trump delegates in the April 28, 2020 PA Presidential primary. This is what I did in 2016, when I felt Hillary Clinton’s nomination was assured. And knowing I dutifully voted against Trump TWICE (in a sense) in 2016 has been a point of pride. In 2016, the decision was easy.
But 2020 is different, (A) the fight for the dem nom may go deeper into primary season and (B) I have a preference for the dem nominee.
Any advice on how to approach my PA 2020 primary affiliation?