Democrat primary Voters in California are set to go to the polls on Tuesday, June 7^th, which may prove to be the deciding factor in the long drawn out nominating contest which has placed a strain on the party. The contest in the United States’ biggest state also provides the most amount of delegates available for the two contests, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, 475.

“Clinton would like to go to the nominating convention with the wind at her back and turn down the perception that she doesn’t excite Democrats” Washington based Democratic strategist Rodell Mollineau said of the upcoming event on Tuesday.

Mr. Rodell is referring to the belief by some members of the Democratic Party that Mrs. Clinton does not excite the younger members of the party because of certain votes she has placed while as a Senator from New York. Her vote for the Iraq war is controversial during this election cycle because of the leftward turn of the Democratic Party and the large belief of many voters in the party that George W. Bush committed a war crime by invading Iraq in 2003.

“Everything that I would stand for he has said it”, California Democrat primary voter Nallely Perez said of Mrs. Clinton’s challenger, Bernie Sanders, an independent senator turned Democrat from Vermont. “We found our voice in him”, Ms. Perez continued, stating Senators Sanders’ promise of free college and free healthcare as her reasons for wanting to place her vote for Mr. Sanders on Tuesday.

Mrs. Clinton won  California in 2008 over President Obama by 9 points in the last primary contest.

California is known as a mixed primary election, meaning that the Democratic Party allows independent voters who have no affiliation to vote in their contest but the Republican Party restricting their contest to only registered Republicans. The way the system is currently set up, it leaves Independent like in all major elections, playing a key role into possibly deciding who wins the Democratic nomination.

In the latest polls  available, the race has tightened, with Mrs. Clinton still holding a slim leading of 48.0% to Mr. Sander’s 44.6%.

California isn’t the only state voting on Tuesday, as this could be labeled “Super Tuesday 3” as Montana, New Jersey, North Dakota, New Mexico and South Dakota are states that are also voting. If Mrs. Clinton wins California and one or two other states, than she can lock up the nomination as it would not leave Senator Sanders enough available Super Delegates for the rest of the primary season.

In two of the four polls  of the states that are voting, Mrs. Clinton is up in New Jersey by 20 points 57.0% to 37.0% and she is up 14 points in New Mexico, 47.0% to 33.0%.

However, many Californian independent voters may be left out of the process because of a confusing registration process on the California voting ballot, where many voters picked the “ American Independent Party” a right wing political party similar to those views of the Republican party, instead of voters picking the real “ Independent Party”.

“ I had a voter totally break down and cry in my lobby” Gail Pellerin, who is  a registrar of voters in Santa Cruz County said referring to one incident where she let a voter know she would not be able to vote because of the mix up.

This mix up to lead to thousands of voters in California not being able to vote in the Democratic nomination as they are technically registered with a political party.

In the end, in a state where the independent vote may play a crucial role in determining a political party’s Presidential nominee, the description of the parties should be on the registration form when voters are determining their political party, because of the confusion examples already shown which have happened when people where picking between the American Independent Party and the Independent party.

Links to sources:

1. Yahoo Link: https://www.yahoo.com/news/california-bust-clinton-hopes-strike-gold-pivotal-vote-103957839.html?ref=gs
2. Washington Post Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/26/independents-like-hillary-clinton-less-than-in-2008/
3. Fox California Link: https://fox40.com/2016/05/22/lawsuit-filed-over-california-presidential-primary-confusion/
4. New Mexico Democratic Primary Poll: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/nm/new_mexico_democratic_presidential_primary-5814.html
5. New Jersey Democratic Primary Poll: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/nj/new_jersey_democratic_presidential_primary-3443.html