notable
I was a bit confused by Q's posts regarding California ballots. For anyone who cares, the rules for voting in primaries varies widely throughout the country. I am from an east coast liberal state that has closed primaries. I was forced to register republican in order to vote for Trump in the primaries. Also needed to register well in advance of the election. Yet, the democratic party in my state would allow voters to register pretty close to the actual election day.
California has mixed for democratic party (meaning independents can vote for a democrat in the primary) but Republicans have closed, meaning you would have to be a registered Republican to vote in the primary.
I believe these rules are set by the parties themselves, state by state, but I might be wrong. There are several types of primaries:
Open Primaries -In an open primary, voters of any affiliation may vote in the primary of any party. They cannot vote in more than one party's primary, although that prohibition can be difficult to enforce in the event a party has a primary runoff election. In many open primary states, voters do not indicate partisan affiliation when they register to vote.
Closed Primaries - In a closed primary, only voters registered with a given party can vote in that party's primary. States with closed primaries include party affiliation in voter registration so that the state has an official record of what party each voter is registered as.
Semi-Closed Primaries - In a semi-closed primary, unaffiliated voters may choose which party primary to vote in, while voters registered with a party may only vote in that party's primary. Representing a middle ground between the exclusion of independent voters in a closed primary and the free-for-all of open primaries, the semi-closed primary eliminates concerns about voters registered in other parties from "raiding" another party's nominating contest.
https://www.fairvote.org/open_and_closed_primaries
https://www.openprimaries.org/primaries_by_state
I don't know why the rules vary so widely from state to state. I would prefer semi-closed for all states personally. However after reviewing the existing rules, I don't see the con. Couldn't Republicans just change their party rules for the state so voters wouldn't have to affiliate in order to vote in the primaries?
Heard that too, thought it was worth noting.
Aside from the biblical meanings and ancient navigators using it for guidance, according to The Weekly Challenger:
The North Star was as well the name of an anti-slavery newspaper. It was started by Frederick Douglass, also a former slave who understood the depth of the importance of light and guidance.
The name of the newspaper was quite befitting, as the publications gave references to the directions given to runaway slaves trying to reach the northern states and Canada. It focused on concerting the abolitionists’ movement and the fight to end slavery in America.
The North Star newspaper was four pages long and sold by subscription at the cost of two dollars a year to more than 4,000 readers in the United States, Europe and the West Indies. It had a most provocative slogan: “Right is of no Sex—Truth is of no Color—God is the Father of us all, and we are all brethren.”
http://theweeklychallenger.com/the-north-star-a-symbol-of-inspiration-and-hope/
Also worth noting the other name of this star is Polaris. Which reminds me of the word polarized.
North star is Polaris. Started thinking there's probably a Polaris Project. Searched and apparently this is an organization that supposedly fights human trafficking. I wonder who's on the board. Gonna dig.
https://polarisproject.org/
This organization that appears to largely study human trafficking, called Polaris Project is based in DC. I am sure that's probably what these North Star references are about. Do any anon's recognize these names on the about page?
https://polarisproject.org/our-team