Primary a true referendum on where the people stand

[Daeyel]

Some thoughts this primary morning.

Primaries have, of course, a far lower turnout than general elections, or even mid-terms.

That said, this shapes up to be largely a Senate issue. Those who are immediately and desperately involved will show up at the polls. Those who sincerely want Hatch out will be going to the polls, and those who desperately want Hatch in will be also. This should make for a gold mine of data for political analysts.
It seems to me that the vote today is going to show the true colors of the Utah political scene, by washing out all the disinterested and/or uninformed voters who only show up in November.

In addition, there is no 'straight party punch' - they have to honestly pick a person. This is going to present quite a conundrum for our less thoughtful voters. As such, I do not see the party punchers coming out to vote today, and I say all the better! I detest the idea that democracy is that easy. Government needs healthy tension to function best, and having the same ideology in power does not create the necessary tension. Nor does it spawn creative ideas in governing.
It merely eases the road for any potential abusers of power. It creates lazy disconnected 'public servants' who know they can do whatever they wish, and mail in the election. It creates a Hatch.

A primary is the best chance to get rid of Hatch, as Hatch supporters - especially the elderly, may be only vaguely aware there is a primary. In addition, they may be relying on someone - anyone else to get out and do the job. Liljenquist supporters are under no such illusion.

I wonder how much of his war chest Dan spent? If I were him, I would have spent every last bit of it. Winning the primary is far more important than the general election. He is a shoo-in for that, even if he spent only half a million dollars. The aforementioned straight party vote is enough to garner a win. Once he gets the nomination, the full force of the GOP would get behind him anyway.

If Hatch feels the pressure, he will be organizing with every care center and hiring every van and bus to transport the elderly to the polls from the assisted living and retirement centers. If we see this happening today, we know he feels the pressure, and that it is all over.

If you have a voice, and want to be heard, today is truly the day! Get out and vote!

[sk8erord]

I had cast my vote by 7:45 this morning.

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2

[Cinhil]

Today is truly a great day for us. The right to vote is a sacred and protected right. It is not even legal for police to pull you over on an election day if you are on your way to or from the polls - that is how sacred it is for us! I will be going and casting my vote when my wife returns from a job interview. I hope everyone else exercises their right and gets out to vote as well. A great day for us indeed!

[quychang]

I voted shortly after 8am. I've always voted unaffiliated, but in order to vote on the senate race I had to affiliate with the Republican party. A trifle, compared to the pleasure I got from casting a vote against Hatch.

Mel

[Luv10mm]

It is not even legal for police to pull you over on an election day if you are on your way to or from the polls - that is how sacred it is for us!

Does that apply to early voting too? I went last week, so I'm just curious if that extends beyond just official election day.

It felt good to vote for people I support the most, even if they don't have a good chance of making it to the general election.

And what's with all the phone calls from Hatch's camp? Dan L. must not have even close to the same funding.

[manithree]

I waited until 9:00 am to vote this morning so I could combine trips and return some books at the library.

I'm hoping that even if Hatch and Brad Daw win, at least they'll know they had to work hard for it because of their stupid mistakes. And hopefully that will change their future behavior. Obviously, I would prefer that Dan and Dana win, but if that doesn't happen, hopefully there can still be a silver lining.

[bagpiper]

It is not even legal for police to pull you over on an election day if you are on your way to or from the polls - that is how sacred it is for us!

Does that apply to early voting too? I went last week, so I'm just curious if that extends beyond just official election day.

It felt good to vote for people I support the most, even if they don't have a good chance of making it to the general election.

And what's with all the phone calls from Hatch's camp? Dan L. must not have even close to the same funding.

Here is the actual provision from the State Constitution.

Article IV, Section 3. [Voters -- Immunity from arrest.]
In all cases except those of treason, felony or breach of the peace, voters shall be privileged from arrest on the days of election, during their attendance at elections, and going to and returning therefrom.

I am not aware of what statutes, if any, provide statutory guidance to police about any necessary changes in conduct toward voters.

There is plenty of conduct, including certain driving violations that would count as either a felony or "breach of the peace" and for which you can be arrested even when traveling to or from the polls.

I also doubt this grants an immunity from a routine traffic ticket which is merely a summons, rather than an actual arrest. Refusal to sign the ticket? Interesting question.

The clear intent is to prevent those in power from using the arrest power of police to sway the outcome of elections by preventing people from voting.

I would argue that whatever protections this does impart, would also attach to those traveling to and from the polls during early voting as the language specifies the plural "days", as well as the clear intent is to facilitate voting.

I will point out that similar language exists for legislators during the legislative session, with the same intent. We'd not want to see, for example, the mayor of Salt Lake City effecting the outcome of legislative votes by having all the legislators from Davis and Utah county arrested as they traveled to the capital. In this case, I've heard from multiple sources I consider reliable that the police do, in fact, ignore mere speeding on the part of legislators (who can get special license plates for their cars). Again, one can imagine that a city could really harass legislators traveling through it if they could be stopped for any tiny infraction (real or fabricated). I doubt the police would ignore more serious violations (running red lights, wrong way down a one-way street, DUI) as those would all constitute breaches of the peace.

But I haven't got the inclination nor resources to try to push the issue to be able to deliberately speed to or from the polls. I suspect that if push comes to shove, I'd find out that speeding is a breach of peace when done by commoners.

Charles

[Cinhil]

Thanks for looking that up Charles, I just got back from voting and saw the thread had lengthened. As I am not a lawyer either, and only knowing that the State has provided for some protections on election days, I would hope that this would be something which the average Joe could leverage themselves if pulled over, and in fact been in process of going to or coming from the polls.

It is interesting to note that as I traveled today I saw more police out trying to hide so they could catch speeders and other offenders than I have since the end of last month. Must be real close to the end of the month and they want to fill their quotas. I also saw plenty of them on the roads too. Seems that we keep getting more and more of them and cities are "earning" more than ever because of them. It would sure be nice if we were back in the old days when traffic tickets were a minor concern and police concentrated more on other things, like real crimes, and prevention, than they do today. (Yes, I did grow up in a nice small town so the Andy Griffiths factor really does apply here! )

[FrankenHollow]

It'll be interesting to see how today's Primary turns out.

When I walked into my polling location at about 3:30 pm, there was an exclamation of excitement. Apparently, I was the first voter they had seen in nearly 2 hours.

Before we got there, my wife made a good observation (which was also made in a recent thread on UCC).
I was giving her a final run-down of the candidates that would be on the ballot, and explaining what my personal views were toward each candidate.
After she was done asking questions to make her decisions, she stated, "So, it's like Bush vs Gore. We're not voting for people we actually want. We just have to decide which idiot is less likely to totally screw us over..."

Yep...



On a separate note...
My polling location is an LDS church with 3 entrances to the parking lot. Each entrance was being watched by a Sheriff's deputy (two of which were also positioned to have a clear view of the doors at the polling location entrance). Although most people would probably consider it to be a way of protecting the electoral process, I'm sure others might try to argue that it as an intimidation tactic, especially when the Sheriff has offered political endorsements for this election.

[gobbly]

It is not even legal for police to pull you over on an election day if you are on your way to or from the polls - that is how sacred it is for us!

Article IV, Section 3. [Voters -- Immunity from arrest.]
In all cases except those of treason, felony or breach of the peace, voters shall be privileged from arrest on the days of election, during their attendance at elections, and going to and returning therefrom.

Not sure that being pulled over qualifies as being placed under arrest, fun to think about though

[Daeyel]

I walked to my polling station, and was told to go to a 2nd station. At the second station, I was on the rolls, but since I do not live in that precinct now, I was instructed to retrace my steps to the first station and vote a provisional ballot.

It was commented by the poll workers at the first station that I had walked 2 miles to vote. My reply was that there are those who cannot walk any distance to vote, and 2 miles was a small price to pay.

I had not realized it was the presidential primary. I was very happy to affirm my love for the Ron Paul Revolution!
I hope he takes a significant percentage in the Romney stronghold.

Will be watching for the polling results.

[Car Knocker]

Title 41 Motor Vehicles
Chapter 6a Traffic Code
41-6a-202. Violations of chapter -- Penalties.
(1) A violation of any provision of this chapter is a class C misdemeanor, unless otherwise provided.
(2) A violation of any provision of Parts 2, 11, 17, and 18 of this chapter is an infraction, unless otherwise provided.

77-7-18. Citation on misdemeanor or infraction charge.
Any person subject to arrest or prosecution on a misdemeanor or infraction charge may be issued and delivered a citation that requires the person to appear at the court of the magistrate with territorial jurisdiction. The citation may be issued by:
(1) a peace officer, in lieu of or in addition to taking the person into custody;
(2) any public official of any county or municipality charged with the enforcement of the law;
(3) a port-of-entry agent as defined in Section 72-1-102;
(4) an animal control officer of a special service district under Title 17D, Chapter 1, Special Service District Act, who is authorized to provide animal control service; and
(5) a volunteer authorized to issue a citation under Section 41-6a-213.

In my opinion, since traffic violations are either infractions or misdemeanors, a traffic stop is an arrest and the officer may either issue a citation or drag you down to the local jail, or both.

[Daeyel]

When I walked into my polling location at about 3:30 pm, there was an exclamation of excitement. Apparently, I was the first voter they had seen in nearly 2 hours.

I am firmly convinced that a low turnout strongly favors Dan Liljenquist. It is sad, yes, but it may yet get the results we want.

[bagpiper]

I am firmly convinced that a low turnout strongly favors Dan Liljenquist. It is sad, yes, but it may yet get the results we want.

No such luck. 65-35 Hatch. The retired folks vote reliably and they all like Hatch.

However, it looks like Swallow will handily beat Reyes which I firmly believe is the best possible outcome for our RKBA.

I don't think any other primary has any effect on our RKBA, though I'm pleased to see Dougal with a small lead over Johnson for Auditor. I hope Dougal can win this one. I've voted for Johnson for as long as he's run. But the fiasco with the DABC that hit the news, and then learning how far back it went and how little publicity Johnson brought to the problem, I think it is time for change.

I've had a hard time getting excited about either SLCo Mayor candidate. Frankly, I'd like to see that and all the county council seats go part time with minimal pay to see if we could get a few statesmen in there rather than than the perpetual government parasitic class we've had for the past decade or more.

Charles

[Daeyel]

And he can blithely do as he wishes for 6 more years - he's a lame duck. So long as he keeps his promise to step down in 6 more years, that is.

We have NO ability to hold his feet to the fire about his claims to use the finance chair as a way to reduce spending. Should Obama win again, the Dems will be rubbing their hands with glee over having a real patsy like Hatch 'staring them down'.
Haven't heard anything from Mike Lee, sure sounds like Chaffetz is the leader of the Utah contingency.