Tulsi Gabbard on Primaries: You Shouldn't Have to be A Card-Carrying Party Member to Vote

image
Published: 11 Sep, 2018
Updated: 17 Oct, 2022
1 min read

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIb2lmHgd5s&amp=&t=56m

Joe Rogan interviewed US Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) in the most recent episode of his podcast, Joe Rogan Experience. Rogan and Gabbard discussed a variety of topics, including the reforms Gabbard believes are needed to create a better election process for voters -- particularly in the primaries.

The conversation stemmed from a discussion on superdelegates, which Gabbard believes is a major part of the problem:

"This is something I have been fighting to try to reform within our party is to get rid of superdelegates, to make it so that we have open primaries so that you do not have to be a card-carrying party member to vote in the Democratic primary ... then you have same-day registration..."

On the subject of open primaries, Gabbard brought up the problems that many voters ran into during the 2016 elections,  where they would show up to vote and were turned away because they didn't register with the party a year or so in advance in some cases -- long before they knew who they even wanted to vote for or who all would be on the ballot.

Be sure to check out the interview above. 

Photo Credit: Lorie Shaull / Flickr

Latest articles

Tulsi Gabbard
Is Tulsi Gabbard Being Sidelined by Another Party?
Tulsi Gabbard can’t seem to catch a break, no matter which party or administration she joins. First, she was ostracized by the Democratic Party in 2016 when she spoke out against the party’s unfair treatment against Bernie Sanders. At the time, she was a sitting Democratic congresswoman and DNC vice chair....
26 Jun, 2025
-
4 min read
A gas station with cannabis products on the pump with the US Capitol building in the background.
Congress Moves to Ban Unregulated, Intoxicating Hemp Being Sold at Gas Stations Nationwide
In a late-session vote last week, House Republicans advanced a sweeping change to federal hemp policy that could outlaw a wide range of intoxicating hemp products, sometimes referred to as “gas station weed,” as the hemp Farm Bill loopholes become a major policy issue in many states, including California, Tennessee and Texas....
26 Jun, 2025
-
3 min read
NYC open primaries picket.
On Primary Day, NY Orgs Picket on Behalf of 3.5 Million Disenfranchised Voters
Much of the election coverage on Tuesday focused on the New York primaries, especially in NYC and the hotly contested ranked choice election for mayor. What got less attention, however, were the 3.5 million independent voters in the state locked out of elections they paid for....
25 Jun, 2025
-
4 min read