I've been confused for a while about how this thing works, so thanks for clarifying. The more I learn about it, the less I like it.
In addition to being chaotic, this setup sounds like a wacky distortion of what a primary election is supposed to be. Primaries are supposed to be where each party chooses its candidate for the general election. This system takes away their right to do that.
It makes sense to me that Schwarzenegger, a Republican, pushed this idea. It sounds like a sneaky way to split the Democratic vote and try to create the possibility of 2 Republican candidates ending up on fhe November ballot. I can't see any possible benefit for anyone other than Republicans, and that creates a situation that sounds just plain unfair to the voters.
I get the GOP being frustrated about their chances in such a heavily Democratic state, but that's just too damned bad. The mayoral race in Chicago is the same way; it's always a foregone conclusion that the Democratic nominee will win in November. That's just the way the ball bounces when most of the electorate votes a particular way. It does not warrant turning the primary into THIS.
I wish you all the luck in the world getting rid of this mess.
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