Got it! Friend misunderstood lack of Democrats on election ballot/Nebraska (Not for political debate

[Deb & Bill]

OP here
I guess I was just a little shell shocked. From NY where diversity and and abundance of choices is the norm.

On a whole other note.... the way this country votes is crazy. Some states can vote early. Should be uniform but a whole other convo LOL
Thanks for all of the contributions everyone and I’m proud that this thread stayed civil
Kerri

Voting is set by the state, not by the Federal Government. Usually the state constitution describes the voting regulations. Some primaries are open and some are closed. I voted against the candidate I didn't want in open primaries and for the candidate I want in closed primaries. The early primaries for Presidential elections usually are open primaries which wind up removing some of the better candidates because voters do I did and vote against someone instead of for someone. So they vote for Jay Z instead of Ted Cruz or Donald Trump. If the candidate can't get the votes in the early primaries, they can't get support money to stay in the race.

Plus the primary is where you, OP, and your friend get to vote for the parties they want. Usually there are a number of candidates in each primary, especially in closed primaries. So register to vote as a certain party and you get to vote in the closed primaries. And you get information sent to you by the state party.

 

[bcla]

It’s aaa

Yeah, California is huge, and the needs and wants of the various parts are on opposite ends of the spectrum.
This year I took trips to Eureka, and to Anaheim. Can't get any more different that those two communities.

They’re probably more similar than most people think. Eureka is rural, but with a large influx of city folks. And it’s the heart of the most famous marijuana growing region in the world.

 

[tvguy]

It’s aaa

They’re probably more similar than most people think. Eureka is rural, but with a large influx of city folks. And it’s the heart of the most famous marijuana growing region in the world.

Well, they certainly VOTE differently.

 

[alldiz]

Voting is set by the state, not by the Federal Government. Usually the state constitution describes the voting regulations. Some primaries are open and some are closed. I voted against the candidate I didn't want in open primaries and for the candidate I want in closed primaries. The early primaries for Presidential elections usually are open primaries which wind up removing some of the better candidates because voters do I did and vote against someone instead of for someone. So they vote for Jay Z instead of Ted Cruz or Donald Trump. If the candidate can't get the votes in the early primaries, they can't get support money to stay in the race.

Plus the primary is where you, OP, and your friend get to vote for the parties they want. Usually there are a number of candidates in each primary, especially in closed primaries. So register to vote as a certain party and you get to vote in the closed primaries. And you get information sent to you by the state party.

No I get that unfortunately so much of the time we are just voting the lesser of 2 evils.
The way I understood her there was a Democrat running for whatever office it was for. But you had to know the name and write it in. Because my friend is a registered Democrat. She was sent the names of who to fill in. She forgot list and that was the joke. Make that mistake once. Bit of this is true just seems impossible for a last minute switch vote without a lot of research.
Thanks
Kerri

 

[Allison]

The way I understood her there was a Democrat running for whatever office it was for. But you had to know the name and write it in.

That is not the way it works unless they didn't decide to run until the last minute and were trying to run a write-in campaign or some other odd circumstance.

Do you really think they would only put one party on the ballot if there were official candidates from both parties?

 

[alldiz]

That is not the way it works unless they didn't decide to run until the last minute and were trying to run a write-in campaign or some other odd circumstance.

Do you really think they would only put one party on the ballot if there were official candidates from both parties?

No that’s why I was so incredulous.
I will call her tmrw and find out more details. Was just a story over the thanksgiving table that I clearly was not understanding all the details
Thanks
Kerri

 

[bcla]

Well, they certainly VOTE differently.

Not necessarily any more, if you judge by the last election cycle.

 

[rajak73]

Haven't read all the replies but, being from Nebraska, you can't just put someone on the ballot when they don't file for office. Many races here do not have 2 candidates. Did you BFF also tell you that those races with only one person was possibly something like State treasurer, or county assessor or county surveyor, or something similar? The MAJOR races, (senate, house, governer, etc) had both candidates on it, just some of the smaller races may have had only one name.

 

[tvguy]

Not necessarily any more, if you judge by the last election cycle.

29 of 58 counties voted for the guy who lost running for Governor in November.
https://vote.sos.ca.gov/returns/maps/governor

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Our state legislative senator was running unopposed. It happens occasionally. But when you say nobody, I mean... you mean Jane Raybould wasn't on your friends ballot? She was running for senate. What about the three US house seats? Your friend should have been able to vote for Jessica McClure, Kara Eastman, or Paul Theobald

 

[nd5056]

We just had a heated Senate race in Mississippi this week. It's considered a red state.

Both parties on the ballot. Both parties had significant numbers of voters. Both parties made lots of calls and ads.

But blue did not win.

Happens. Just adds motivation for next election.

The last sentence & the saying: "We agree to disagree" used to rule. Not anymore. The fine line between "political" and "personal" got wiped out somewhere along the way.

 

[rajak73]

https://lancaster.ne.gov/election/SampleGN18.pdf

So here's a sample ballot from Lancaster county in Nebraska, (ie, second largest county in the state) other than the local races, the ballot is the same for the major races in the rest of the state, the only thing that changes is the local races, sheriff, assessor, count attorney, etc.

 

[bcla]

29 of 58 counties voted for the guy who lost running for Governor in November.
https://vote.sos.ca.gov/returns/maps/governor

Humboldt County and Orange County are the same color.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Ok the write in is baloney.

I almost got elected to my county political party committee with one write in vote.

It turns out somebody else ended up having two.

 

[alldiz]

I almost got elected to my county political party committee with one write in vote.

It turns out somebody else ended up having two.

Ok my friend is traveling so haven’t had a chance to connect with actual names if she remember .
But this post made me LOL

I guess this is my point if name is not on ballot take more effort.
Was the other guy upset they won lol?

 

[msjprincess]

No I get that unfortunately so much of the time we are just voting the lesser of 2 evils.
The way I understood her there was a Democrat running for whatever office it was for. But you had to know the name and write it in. Because my friend is a registered Democrat. She was sent the names of who to fill in. She forgot list and that was the joke. Make that mistake once. Bit of this is true just seems impossible for a last minute switch vote without a lot of research.
Thanks
Kerri

It sounds like your friend is confused.

 

[sam_gordon]

I guess this is my point if name is not on ballot take more effort.

While you are correct, you still haven't said what you think should happen if no one elects to run for a certain party.

 

[Ames77]

I live in a county that is historically red. Lots of times when I voted, there were only republicans on the local ballot. It isn’t biased or unfair, just no democrats decided to run because they knew they would lose.

This happens all the time on my voting ballots, though usually for smaller offices. There aren't many Democrats in my county and of those not a lot of them want to hold any sort of political office or invest the time/money as they would probably lose.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Was the other guy upset they won lol?

I don't know, but I was upset when the county president first told me I won (the other person's write-ins were absentee). I hadn't discussed the idea of being on ANOTHER committee with my family and was already doing too many things.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I'm still a little confused about this whole story. Are you telling me that in Nebraska, none of the Democrats running for any office were on the ballot? Like, the Democrat running for US Senator had to be written in? The Democrats running for Congress had to be written in?

Or are you just talking about local races?