http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/byron-york-is-it-true-what-democrats-say-about-republicans-and-voting/article/2592004Byron York: Is it true what Democrats say about Republicans and voting?
By Byron York (@ByronYork) • 5/22/16 8:45 PM
As New York Republicans went to the polls for their primary April 19, some opponents of Donald Trump clung to the hope that Ted Cruz, or perhaps John Kasich, might deny Trump a few delegates in some of the state's congressional districts. One reason for that hope was New York's highly restrictive voter registration rules, which required party-changers to register as Republicans many months earlier in order to be eligible to vote in the GOP primary. Some crossovers who intended to vote for Trump, the thinking went, would discover when they arrived at the polls that they could not do so.
The #NeverTrumpers were hoping, in other words, that rules limiting voter participation might help their cause.
Likewise, during the primary season some anti-Trump Republicans paid close attention to the GOP delegate-selection process in Colorado, Wyoming, and North Dakota, the three states that chose not to have presidential preference votes in 2016. Winning there depended on the participation of a relatively few highly motivated Republicans who worked through precinct, county, district, and state caucuses. Yes, several thousand Republicans participated in conventions there, but there's no doubt Colorado, Wyoming, and North Dakota had less voter participation than nearly all states with primaries. For #NeverTrumpers, fewer voters equaled higher hopes.
Trump called the system in those states "rigged" and accused some Republican leaders of trying to frustrate the will of the voters. "It's about the voters, it's not about the bosses," Trump said the week of the New York primary, which he won with 60 percent of the vote. "We're going to show that it's about the voters. I win all of the time when it's up to the voters."
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