2016 Primaries: Five East Coast States Vote

We are almost done with primaries. I know it seems like forever. Today Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island get to vote for their choice for Democratic and Republican presidential nominee.

Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania are “closed” primaries, iow, you must be a registered in the Democratic or Republican Party to vote. Rhode Island is weird:

Rhode Island has a hybrid system of sorts that’s neither a strictly open nor a closed primary. According to the state’s Board of Elections website, Rhode Island has a “semi-closed” party primary system. It means that if you’re registered with a specific party, like the Democrats or the Republicans, then you can only vote in that party’s primary. However, if you’re “unaffiliated” (a political independent), then you can vote in the primary of your choosing.

The catch here is this: “Once you vote in a primary, however, you are considered a member of that party until and unless you ‘disaffiliate.'” It’s not too hard to “disaffiliate.” You can fill out a form right after you vote (or any time after that) saying you want to go back to being unaffiliated, and your status will revert in 90 days.

Connecticut polls opened at 6 AM ET and will close at 8 PM ET. In Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania polls opened at 7 AM and will close at 8 PM. Rhode Island polls opened at 7 AM with exceptions so voters there should check with the RI Board of Elections. Ocean Staters should check for their voting locations anyway because RI has reduced the number of polling sites from 419 to 144 in a move “to save money.” Believe that and I have a really big bridge to sell you on Staten Island and I did mention that RI is weird. The one thing not weird about RI is the polls will close at 8 PM like the other our states. So 8 PM should be “fun,” or just predictable.

The candidates have been pounding the turf while most of us political junkies are just plain exhausted from listening to the same old babble coming from the tubes. It’s pretty much predictable at this point, except for the amusing scrambling by the GOP trying to rescue themselves from the inevitable Drumpf, unless they really do want riots in Cleveland. I’m still pissed at the Secret Service for banning open carry at the convention. As it is, this may be more entertaining than usual.

Speaking of entertaining, this should amuse as we wait for results.

I’ll be back later with results.

Up Date: 8:00 PM ET

The polls are now closed except fpr a few in Baltimore, MD, where a judge ordered that some stations that open late will remain open for another hour ro hour and a half to accommodate votes.

The New York Times has declared billionaire Donald Trump the winner in Connecticut, Maryland and Pennsylvania. They also called Maryland for Hillary Clinton.

Up date: 8:20 PM ET

MSNBC has declared Hillary and Trump the winners of their primaries in Delaware. MSNBC has also called Rhode Island for Trump.

Up Date: 9:05 PM ET

The NYT and MSNBC have declared Hillary Clinton the winner in Pennsylvania.

Bernie Sanders has a substantial lead in RI and a narrow lead in CT. Still too many districts to be counted.

Up Date: 9:13 PM ET

The NYT and MSNBC have declared Bernie Sanders the winner in Rhode Island.

Up Date: 10:35 PM ET

From the NYT and MSNBC, Hillary Clinton is the projected winner in Connecticut.