Exclusive: Half of Americans think presidential nominating system 'rigged' - poll

[CorporatistNation]

And with all of the reports and complaints of "irregularities," particularly in the Democratic primary for the most part said "issues" benefiting one candidate in particular... Why shouldn't they believe the primary system/results have been choreographed?

As a former Democratic Nominee for U.S. House, I can testify that the system is "geared" to ensure that "Establishment" candidates who "Play Ball" with the people who own the system... prevail.

By Chris Kahn

NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than half of American voters believe that the system U.S. political parties use to pick their candidates for the White House is "rigged" and more than two-thirds want to see the process changed, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

The results echo complaints from Republican front-runner Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Bernie Sanders that the system is stacked against them in favor of candidates with close ties to their parties – a critique that has triggered a nationwide debate over whether the process is fair.

The United States is one of just a handful of countries that gives regular voters any say in who should make it onto the presidential ballot. But the state-by-state system of primaries, caucuses and conventions is complex. The contests historically were always party events, and while the popular vote has grown in influence since the mid-20th century, the parties still have considerable sway.

One quirk of the U.S. system - and the area where the parties get to flex their muscle - is the use of delegates, party members who are assigned to support contenders at their respective conventions, usually based on voting results. The parties decide how delegates are awarded in each state, with the Republicans and Democrats having different rules.

The delegates' personal opinions can come into play at the party conventions if the race is too close to call - an issue that has become a lightning rod in the current political season.

Another complication is that state governments have different rules about whether voters must be registered as party members to participate. In some states, parties further restrict delegate selection to small committees of party elites, as the Republican Party in Colorado did this year. SNIP

'ARCANE RULES'

Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said the U.S. presidential nominating system could probably be improved in a number of areas, but noted that the control wielded by party leadership usually became an issue only during tight races.

"The popular vote overwhelms the rules usually, but in these close elections, everyone pays attention to these arcane rules," he said.

Some 51 percent of likely voters who responded to the April 21-26 online survey said they believed the primary system was "rigged" against some candidates. Some 71 percent of respondents said they would prefer to pick their party’s nominee with a direct vote, cutting out the use of delegates as intermediaries.

The results also showed 27 percent of likely voters did not understand how the primary process works and 44 percent did not understand why delegates were involved in the first place. The responses were about the same for Republicans and Democrats.

Overall, nearly half said they would also prefer a single primary day in which all states held their nominating contests together - as opposed to the current system of spreading them out for months.

The poll included 1,582 Americans and had a credibility interval of 2.9 percentage points. SNIP

Missing from this discussion is the GLARING OMISSION of the very significant role that the Corporatist/Oligarchy OWNED "mainstream" media plays in all of this. PUMPING "Establishment" candidates (Hillary) on the Democratic side while ignoring or chastising the challenger Bernie Sanders which was the operating mode for the first six months of the campaign. Yeah... I agree... No matter the outcome overall, there MUST be a wholesale overhaul of the process otherwise its credibility will be far worse in the future than it is currently. Remembering that if the people do not trust their government they will not be governed.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-half-americans-think-presidential-nominating-system-rigged-100523399.html

[msongs]

1. online survey. ok nt

[PowerToThePeople]

2. And the other half

have their heads up their @$$.

[bigtree]

3. your candidate is losing because he's less popular among actual voters than my primary choice

Last edited Thu Apr 28, 2016, 05:48 AM - Edit history (1)

...you should recognize that much of that 'pumping' from the media was a feathering of the unknown Sanders and a steady drumbeat of negative news about Hillary Clinton.

Harping about the system at this point is just sour grapes, despite the weak disclaimer about 'whoever wins.'

[CorporatistNation]

4. Hey Tree... Let's See What Happens With That Investigation... Should Be Entertaining... !

BTW I have experienced Vote Rigging as a candidate... So when you actually do something other than blog... talk to me!

[CorporatistNation]

5. THANKS To Brentspeak for This Very Illuminating Post! Exactly WHAT I'm Talking About And What

PISSES PEOPLE OFF! Wall Street Bought And Paid FOR Pols and candidates...

Obama in 2008 took more from Wall Street than any candidate in history!

Obama and Biden's intervention in PA's senate primary illustrates why the party needs a major revolt
How often do you see a Democratic sitting president and vice-president taking sides in a Democratic senate primary campaign? And against the progressive candidate who actually served in Congress in favor of the so-called "environmentalist" candidate who opposed the PA state Democratic party resolution to ban fracking?

You do when both the president and vice-president are a) fully in bed with Wall Street; b) their favored candidate's record consists primarily of shilling for fracking in her business life, winding up in fourth place in a gubernatorial primary, and being an adviser for Bill Clinton; and c) her experienced opponent (Joe Sestak) is a bona-fide progressive who the party establishment doesn't like.

I don't know about you, but I will not be sending a single penny or putting an ounce of effort to help any of the establishment candidates. Why should I? Why should you?

[Dragonfli]

6. K&R