[Darthgamer138]

So I submitted a new form to change my political party from "Republican" to "Libertarian" about a month ago. Today I get a response that says "You are registered as a republican and must remain as such until the 2012 General Election, as per NYS law. You will be changed after the election."

Why is this? WTF is with this? Any info would be appreciated.

 

[plater1]

political party affiliation doesn't matter in the general election. it only matters in primary elections. on election day you can vote for whomever you want, doesn't matter what your party is.

 

[RayKnobs]

Probably do that so you can't keep swapping and vote in each primary? What's the big deal?

 

[Darthgamer138]

I know I can vote for whoever I wish, I'm just curious as to what is up with this policy? That is the big deal really. I thought you could change parties whenever you wished...

 

[Temporaryscars]

That is strange, but maybe it's a timing issue? You might have to wait until after the election.

 

[Darthgamer138]

That is strange, but maybe it's a timing issue? You might have to wait until after the election.

They said they would change it after the election.

 

[de17walt]

I changed mine 2 years ago and had to wait til the next election year also to vote my new party. It's not a big deal as you can vote for any party. My only bitch is when a politician changes parties in midstream they don't have to wait til the following election year to use their new party.

 

[vantrepes]

It's to prevent manipulation of the Primary system. You can't swap parties right before an election because they don't want a ton of people from the "other side" switching parties, and changing the outcome of the primary elections.
It sort of makes sense to me, since this year, there is no Democrat Presidential primary, there could have been a flood of leftists voting in the Republican primary. The years there is a Republican president, you have the same issue.
Now that I think about it, it makes even more sense for the smaller, local elections, where a smaller shift of people would have a much larger impact on the primary elections for the smaller, local seats.