Politics & Government

Some Confused With Ballots As They Vote In The Primary Today

The recall primary isn't considered a normal primary, and people can cross party lines. However, some voters are trying to vote for both parties within the same race.

Normally you can't cross party lines in a primary election, but today you can, because each race is considered a separate election.

Greendale Deputy Clerk-Treasurer Joan Siefert said the ballot has been confusing for some because people can cross party lines when they cast their votes and ultimately they are over voting in some races.

"They think they can vote one in the democrat and one in the republican," Siefert said. "We are saying that they can only vote one for governor and one for lieutenant governor."

Find out what's happening in Greendalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Siefert said voters heard some wrong information in the news and radio stations. Voters were saying they heard on the news they could "vote for anybody" and took it to mean they could vote for everybody.

Each recall primary is a separate election event. Voters may cross parties in the recall primary, but they may still only vote once per office. For example, in the governor’s primary, you may only vote for one person, either a Republican or a Democratic candidate. There are only Democratic primaries for lieutenant governor and state senate.

Find out what's happening in Greendalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

However, the poll workers are catching this when the voters put their ballots into the machines since the machines aren't accepting them. 


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