# Hundreds of Voter Registrations Flipped in CA (That We Know Of. So Far.) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 30, 2012, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-voter-registrations-flipped-in-ca-that-we-know-of-so-far/639283 "2012-10-30T02:04:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-voter-registrations-flipped-in-ca-that-we-know-of-so-far/639283/1 "2012-10-30T02:04:41Z")
[http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/10/29/california-dems-say-hundreds-of-voter-registrations-were-flipped/](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/10/29/california-dems-say-hundreds-of-voter-registrations-were-flipped/) "Voters told the paper they **they never consented to being registered Republican** , and some of them claimed they didn’t even know they were registering to vote. Some claimed their information was taken after they were asked to sign a petition, while others said they believed the forms were to sign up for doing poll work on Election Day. One person even said that they were promised a job in exchange for personal information, only to have a **Republican voter registration arrive in the mail weeks later**. The story seems to confirm claims by California Democrats in Riverside County, who say that a Republican voter registration operation is wrongly **adding voters to the Republican rolls** to build the appearance of an advantage. That group, The Golden State Voter Participation Project, was targeted last month by the Riverside County Progressive Political Action Committee, which filed an official complaint with the county’s registrar of voters. That complaint contained affidavits from 133 more Democratic voters who say **their affiliation was flipped** — including two top aides to retired Air Force Major General Jeff Miller, a Democrat running for the California state senate." So, ACORN (as a nationwide organization, excluding a single individual acting against ACORN’s policies) follows the law, separates voter registrations that do not appear to be legitimate, and flags them to the Secretaries of State for further examination before processing (which they are required by law to do, as opposed to, say, [discarding them in dumpsters](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/10/19/third-instance-of-voter-registration-dumping-found-in-virginia/)), and the nutjob GOP go on a massive national freakout campaign alleging “voter fraud” (ignoring that this was neither “voter” fraud, nor fraud of any sort) and smears them so badly that their funding is cut off and they’re forced to shut down their entire operation. This Republican organization actually _registers_ people _illegally_, and flips people’s registrations from Democrat to Republican, which could potentially prevent thousands of actual, real, living people (as opposed to Mickey Mouse, for instance) from being allowed to vote in their Party’s primaries, and … ::crickets:: ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-voter-registrations-flipped-in-ca-that-we-know-of-so-far/639283/2 "2012-10-30T02:11:59Z")
A few bad apples. I’m sure they have some top men working on the problem right now. Who? Top men. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-voter-registrations-flipped-in-ca-that-we-know-of-so-far/639283/3 "2012-10-30T03:00:01Z")
I want to see who will be first with the standard “The other side does it too!” post. ---
**Author:** ![Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/aca169/32.png) [@Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inbred_Mm_domesticus)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-voter-registrations-flipped-in-ca-that-we-know-of-so-far/639283/4 "2012-10-30T03:10:44Z")
Within all these attempts to manipulate voting eligibility - new voter ID laws, verifiable charges of flipping registrations, altering early voting rules, and the biased registering of Republicans in several states (I think I experienced it here in CO) - is there a single example of this questionable behavior being directed at potentially Republican voters (other than sullying their name and the democracy they live in)? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-voter-registrations-flipped-in-ca-that-we-know-of-so-far/639283/5 "2012-10-30T03:20:52Z")
The cited article claims 30 flipped registrations in one county, and makes reference to 133 others. 166 actual people claim their registration was flipped. Not the “hundreds” hysterically claimed by the OP. I want to see some hard numbers from a considerably more reputable source to back this up. ---
**Author:** ![gatorslap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gatorslap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gatorslap)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-voter-registrations-flipped-in-ca-that-we-know-of-so-far/639283/6 "2012-10-30T03:57:21Z")
Party registration means very little in CA. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-voter-registrations-flipped-in-ca-that-we-know-of-so-far/639283/7 "2012-10-30T04:21:37Z")
Yeah, I think all primaries in california are now nonpartisan except for president. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-voter-registrations-flipped-in-ca-that-we-know-of-so-far/639283/8 "2012-10-30T05:29:38Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > The cited article claims 30 flipped registrations in one county, and makes reference to 133 others. 166 actual people claim their registration was flipped. Not the “hundreds” hysterically claimed by the OP. > > I want to see some hard numbers from a considerably more reputable source to back this up. Just for the sake of argument, what sort of numbers would we be looking at before you’ll say they’ve done something wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-voter-registrations-flipped-in-ca-that-we-know-of-so-far/639283/9 "2012-10-30T05:43:39Z")
What does party registration do in California? Serious question. I know some states let you register for parties and then vote in that party’s primary (like New York), and some states don’t have you join a party and let you vote in whatever primary you want (like Virginia), but, as was mentioned, California’s got that weird “everybody’s in the same primary” thing now, so in CA, what does party registration do? How would the Republican party benefit by changing party registration? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-voter-registrations-flipped-in-ca-that-we-know-of-so-far/639283/10 "2012-10-30T06:01:16Z")
Presidential primaries are still closed and partisan in California. ---
**Author:** ![gatorslap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gatorslap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gatorslap)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-voter-registrations-flipped-in-ca-that-we-know-of-so-far/639283/11 "2012-10-30T06:15:25Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Presidential primaries are still closed and partisan in California. Right, but it’s a little late to be trying anything funny for the presidential primary. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-voter-registrations-flipped-in-ca-that-we-know-of-so-far/639283/12 "2012-10-30T07:02:56Z")
It’s nothing new. I registered non-partisan when I turned 18 back in 1984. The guy at the table with the Reagan posters kept trying to get me to register Republican, but I refused. I get my card from the county a few weeks later, and I was registered Republican. I went to the post office, filled out a new card, sent it in myself (without ever showing an ID), and I’ve been non-partisan ever since. This was in Los Angeles County. I’m not sure what the point was, since California was “Reagan Country” at the time. Similary, I don’t see the point of messing around now. California has the non-partisan “jungle primary” for everything except president. Party registration is meaningless in the general election, and almost meaningless in the primaries. What do you accomplish by preventing people from voting for the unopposed incumbent in a primary? Seems pretty stupid to me. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-voter-registrations-flipped-in-ca-that-we-know-of-so-far/639283/13 "2012-10-30T13:03:40Z")
Even if primaries are closed, what good does flipping party affiliation do? They would have, at worst, showed up for the primary intending to vote for Obama, or write in Hillary or something, neither of which affects anything. Instead, they get told they’re Republican, and they get mad and either don’t vote, or vote for Romney or ‘that crazy congress lady’ or something. I don’t see the motive that suggests this was done conspiratorially instead of incompetently. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hundreds-of-voter-registrations-flipped-in-ca-that-we-know-of-so-far/639283/14 "2012-10-30T13:16:34Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Even if primaries are closed, what good does flipping party affiliation do? They would have, at worst, showed up for the primary intending to vote for Obama, or write in Hillary or something, neither of which affects anything. Instead, they get told they’re Republican, and they get mad and either don’t vote, or vote for Romney or ‘that crazy congress lady’ or something. > > I don’t see the motive that suggests this was done conspiratorially instead of incompetently. Wouldn’t it hurt Republicans to have so-called spoilers voting in the primary?