By Dr. Marcia Magnus
MIAMI – For immigrants, one of the disadvantages of moving to a new country that has a different political system is that we often automatically transfer expectations from our native country to the host country.
Many Caribbean American immigrants who were ready to cast their ballot for their presidential candidate on Jan. 29, 2008 got a surprise – they could not vote for their presidential candidate because they were registered as independents! They had no party affiliation.
To vote on all ballot questions, including the presidential question, in any primary election, you need to have a party affiliation. You need to be either a declared Democrat or a Republican.
If you are registered to vote as an “independent” with no party affiliation, if you do not declare a party affiliation, you will not able to vote on the presidential ballot question in future primary elections (usually in January), you need to declare a party affiliation by July 25, 2008.
There are two ways to declare your party affiliation. First, you can pick up and fill out a new voters’ registration application, indicate a party change, and mail the completed form to the Supervisor of Elections office. Or you can download the form and mail it to the Supervisor of Elections office in your county. (The following are contacts for offices in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties in Florida:) www.miamidade.gov/elections 305-499-8683 www.browardsoe.org 954-357- 7050 www.pbcelections.org 561- 656-6200
As an independent registered voter, you will still be able to vote for a presidential candidate in the November presidential election. But don’t be caught unaware in the next primary presidential election. Declare your party affiliation now so that you won’t have another surprise. Do it now and get it over with!
See you at the polls!
Dr. Marcia Magnus is chairperson of Caribbean- American Politically Active Citizens, a group of Caribbean Americans who are committed to increasing voter turnout. Members are non-partisan and, based on the recommendations of a panel of advisors, make recommendations on which candidates and issues would be most beneficial to Caribbean Americans in South Florida. For more information, call 954-454 -7473.
