Ballot Mix-Ups

The Lake County Election Commission Lake County Clerk's Office has been burning the midnight oil at both ends, printing up extra paper ballots in anticipation of the upcoming March 18 Primary. With a mother lode of uncontested races this election cycle, Republicans are expected to jam the polls in record numbers to cast their ballots for Democratic candidates.

Haha, j/k. Point in fact, the county's Democrats are expected to stampede the polls and vote for Republican candidates.

Haha, j/k, yet again. Point in fact, Democrats are going to make like Election Day is Groundhog Day: when they wake up on March 18 and see that there are almost no contested Democratic races on the ballot, they will return to their burrows and stay away from the polls for six weeks.

The Daily Herald is not so sure, however, and asks ...

The compelling Republican primary race for governor continues to dwarf anything happening on the Democratic ballot on March 18, so the question naturally arises whether Democrats might take a break from their own party, pull a Republican ballot and get in on the GOP action. Will that really happen?
Will Democrats take Republican ballots March 18?

Nobody knows what will really happen because crossover voting is the electoral equivalent of Schrödinger's Cat: until the votes are actually opened and tabulated, these Democrats will have simultaneously cast ballots for both Parties!

Democrats sometimes try to justify crossover voting by pointing out that that every candidate on a Lake County Republican ballot is more than likely a RINO, anyways. The phenomenon is more widespread than one would expect. An anonymous election judge told your LakeCountyEye (on condition that he would not be identified as an anonymous election judge): "There's this one guy who comes in every year and he says 'Can I get a ballot for the Cocktail Party?' And I always say, 'Sure, do you want to show me a birth certificate?' And we both have a laugh. Anyhow, what is it that you call those people who vote for the opposite party?"

A good question. The experts are divided -- ten ways by your LakeCountyEye's count:

Ten Nicknames for Crossover Voting

Double Dippers Ballot Buffeteers Poll Jumpers Three Ballot Monte (R,D,I) Absent Minded Voters Heter-oters Trans Body Politics The Double Crossover Indecisional Ballots Low Information Voters

Look for your LakeCountyEye counting voters near you.