(NewsSpace.com) – The 2024 election is less than a year away and the primaries are heating up. While most people register for their own party, there’s another strategy in place that could end up devastating the GOP — crossover voting.
Crossover voting is the process of registering to vote under the opposite party than that of which you normally support. In this case, Democrats reportedly plan to register as Republicans so they can help control who secures the nomination. It’s not a new tactic, but this coming year, it could prove to be problematic for the GOP. Some speculate that it could even throw former President Donald Trump off course for securing the nomination, though that would take a lot of work.
Newsweek asked Independent Scott Ernest about his approach and he said by registering as a Republican — even though he plans to vote Democratic, no matter who wins the GOP primary — makes it “pretty easy to influence things a bit.” Heather Blair, an Idaho Democrat, says she plans to employ the same strategy because the Freedom Caucus is very big in her state and has “infiltrated [its] local politics, and are bullies to those who don’t vote party line” or those who are liberal vs conservative.
In the 2020 primaries, just over 5% of Democrats switched to Republican and vice versa in the Iowa primary. Right now, Trump is leading by a 32% margin, per the most recent NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll. When asked which candidate would be the top choice among several options, Trump came in at 51%. The second best was Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at 19%. Former US Ambassador Nikki Haley rounded out the top three at 16%.
The strategy isn’t just for the presidential primary, either, it works in local and state elections as well. It’s a method of weeding out the harsher candidates for someone more palatable. Whether it will have an impact on the 2024 presidential primaries remains yet to be seen, but will be more evident in the coming months.
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