Today is primary day and 3.5 million Flori

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Independents Make Up 40% of American Electorate

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."-Martin Luther King, Jr.


INDEPENDENT VOTERS
Analysis: Bin Laden-fed unity may be short-lived (AP Google) Congress and the nation have grown so partisan and polarized in recent decades that even a universally embraced feat — the death of the chief terrorist behind the 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans — has little ability to influence other aspects of public life. There are many reasons. Americans have settled into more rigidly defined political sectors. The nation remains almost evenly split between the two major parties, with a relatively modest number of independent voters deciding recent elections.

OPEN PRIMARIES
Surprises still await as laws go into effect (Fort Wayne Journal Gazette) One reason primaries don’t have better turnout is many independent voters are loath to identify themselves as members of either party. Under state law, if you voted for more Democrats than Republicans in the last general election, you are supposed to vote Democratic. If you didn’t vote in the last election, you should plan to vote for more Republicans than Democrats this November if you want to vote in the GOP primary. (And vice versa, of course.) But election officials don’t know who you voted for last time, much less who you plan to vote for next time. So the law is largely unenforceable and a matter of conscience.

NEW YORK

EDUCATION REFORM
Salem Community Charter School receives its charter (Posted by Sean Teehan, Boston Globe) The new Salem school plans to begin serving up to 50 students between the ages of 15 and 21 who dropped out of school. Doors are scheduled to open to students in September, and within three years attendance may grow to a maximum of 125 students who either dropped out or are in danger of dropping out.

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