PD Editorial: A primary surprise for some ‘independent’ voters

California’s presidential primary is a little more than six weeks away, and it’s shaping up as a decisive contest. Don’t miss your chance to cast a ballot.

Anyone following the nominating contests know there’s a little confusion and a lot of consternation about superdelegates and caucuses and mismatches between election results and delegate allocations.

With the campaigns coming to the Golden State, expect some misunderstandings about open primaries and closed primaries as well as voter registration. Let’s start with open and closed primaries. In California, we have both.

The Democrats have an open primary. So do the Libertarian and American Independent Party. Republicans have a closed primary, as do the Green and Peace and Freedom parties.

What does that mean?

Independents are allowed to vote in open primaries, while only registered party members are eligible to cast ballots in closed primaries.

Which brings us to misunderstandings about voter registration, more specifically about who is and who isn’t an independent.

California is the only state that recognizes the American Independent Party, which was formed in 1967 for George Wallace’s presidential campaign.

As measured by registered members, the American Independent Party is the state’s third-largest political party, with 472,000 members, about 2.7 percent of the electorate. (It represents less than 0.5 percent of registered voters in Sonoma County.)

Political professionals have long assumed that the party’s ranks are swollen by people who don’t intend to join any political party but mistakenly check the AIP box on voter registration cards because they see the word “independent.”

To test that theory, the Los Angeles Times surveyed registered members of the American Independent Party members and found that almost three in four joined by mistake.

“I just blew it,” Deborah Silva of Point Arena told the Times. “There were a number of choices. I just checked the box that said ‘independent.’?”

The correct box for small-i independents is “no party preference.”

Others who blew it include former boxer Sugar Ray Leonard and actress Demi Moore - both of whom have a history of supporting Democratic candidates and causes. While the American Independent Party disavows Wallace’s segregationist views, its platform is staunchly conservative, including, among other things, building a wall around the entire country.

On the June 7 ballot, the American Independent Party has five candidates in its presidential primary and one candidate for a state Assembly seat in Los Angeles.

“No party preference” voters can cast ballots in the AIP primary, but we suspect more people who consider themselves independents will want to vote in the Democratic primary. Bernie Sanders has scored well with independent voters in open primaries in other states. Hillary Clinton could benefit if Sanders supporters are registered with the American Independent Party.

What about California’s top-two primary system, where voters can cast ballots for candidates from any party, with the top two finishers advancing to the general election? It doesn’t extend to presidential primaries. For those elections, the parties make their own rules.

And if you want to participate, you need to understand the rules. (Just ask Donald Trump.)

Sonoma County provided its own surprise to about 800 registered voters who received postcards telling them they were eligible to vote in an open primary if they submitted a request by April 15 - four days before the cards were mailed. On Friday, county officials said they will ignore the deadilne.

Bottom line: to vote on June 7, you must be registered by May 23. If you’re already registered, you might double-check that you belong to whichever party you prefer and, if you don’t want to be in any political party, that you haven’t unwittingly surrendered your independence.