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Originally Posted by ratbastid
Well, in Ohio, changing parties requires signing a pledge, under penalty of election falsification, that you are aligned with the new party, it supporters, and its principles. Lying on that pledge is as felony, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2500 fine. (Election officials found one such pledge on which the party-switcher had handwritten "For One Day"--clearly violating the law.) Inciting others to commit that felony, which is what Limbaugh did, is a fifth-degree felony as well. So, it actually IS illegal.
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I voted in the Ohio primary. There was no statement of allegiance required of me, thankfully. I also worked the polls.. no statement of allegiance, but maybe that was because no one switched parties. For absentees, you check off which party's ballot you want, and vote on it. At the polling place, you request a ballot for the party you want to vote for. It's essentially an open primary these days, I can't really imagine the board of elections pursuing prosecution for someone signing a "bad" statement of allegiance to a party in the primary.. they're horribly understaffed already, it's quite likely no one would notice.
As for swapping parties for primaries to try to "fix" the general election.. it's kind of a gray area. I personally feel it's dishonest to vote for anyone but the individual you'd like to see win the general election, but I can understand the motivation to make it EASIER for that person to win the general election by thwarting the efforts of the opposing party. It bothers me that the US operates on a two-party system, though, and if it weren't for that system.. things like this probably wouldn't happen to the extent at which they seem to be happening this year.