What does being a 'registered X voter" mean in the US?
March 14, 2016 3:47 AM Subscribe
Can someone explain to a non-American what being a 'registered Democrat' or 'registered Republican' voter means? Who do you register with, why would you want to and what does it mean in practice? Is it in any way connected with being registered to vote, full stop? I've been trying to work this out through context for many years, but I am defeated.
When you register to vote in most (possibly all?) US states, you have the option of registering as a member of a specific party, and your party registration is public information along with the rest of your voter registration. Your party registration then determines your eligibility to vote in the party primaries, based on the laws of the state you live in. Some states have "closed" primaries, meaning that only registered members of a party are allowed to vote in the primaries, other states have "open" primaries, which allow voters not enrolled in any party to choose which primary to vote in in any given election.
Party registration may also have other implications for political and electoral participation as well. For example, in some states you need to have been registered as a member of a party for a certain number of months before you can run for office as the nominee for that party.
posted by firechicago at 4:01 AM on March 14, 2016 [2 favorites]
Party registration may also have other implications for political and electoral participation as well. For example, in some states you need to have been registered as a member of a party for a certain number of months before you can run for office as the nominee for that party.
posted by firechicago at 4:01 AM on March 14, 2016 [2 favorites]
Oh, and registering to vote means notifying the relevant office, usually the Secretary of State, that one is a citizen residing at a particular address, so that the office of elections can ensure one votes on matters and candidates in the appropriate district. I think in some states, voters also have to swear they aren't felons, but don't hold me to that.
posted by gingerest at 4:01 AM on March 14, 2016
posted by gingerest at 4:01 AM on March 14, 2016
As an example, in California, the process of registering is filling out a form that like a big postcard and mailing it in. Forms are distributed at various government places, like the vehicle registration offices and post offices.
The form asks for your name, address, your state id number, social security number (maybe just last 4 digits?), some checkboxes promising you are a citizen, not in prison, etc, and an optional checkbox if you want to register for a political party. You sign it and drop it in the mail.
In California, you can also register online. Go click through the form and check it out.
[obligatory US: every state has a different process]
posted by ryanrs at 4:09 AM on March 14, 2016
The form asks for your name, address, your state id number, social security number (maybe just last 4 digits?), some checkboxes promising you are a citizen, not in prison, etc, and an optional checkbox if you want to register for a political party. You sign it and drop it in the mail.
In California, you can also register online. Go click through the form and check it out.
[obligatory US: every state has a different process]
posted by ryanrs at 4:09 AM on March 14, 2016
My political science professor used to say that not registering with a party is basically throwing half of your vote away because most places have closed primaries (only voters registered with a particular party may participate in that party's primary). I live in Washington, DC, a city where 90%+ of the registered voters are Democrats. Most of the time, the Democrat who runs for mayor will win easily, so if one doesn't vote in the Democratic primary, you don't really get a choice.
It may be helpful to take a look at a voter registration form. Each state has different rules regarding who may participate in primaries in such but that may give you an idea.
posted by kat518 at 4:12 AM on March 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
It may be helpful to take a look at a voter registration form. Each state has different rules regarding who may participate in primaries in such but that may give you an idea.
posted by kat518 at 4:12 AM on March 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
This used to matter a lot more, but many states, including mine - Illinois - have moved to open primaries where you can select on primary day which party's primary you want to vote in. You can only pick one, but you can pick either one regardless of your affiliation or non-affiliation.
I'm a reliable Democrat -- I do election work for them, I canvass for them, I ran for office -- but I'm not registered to vote as a Democrat, partly because there's no real point in an open-primary state, and partly because your voter registration (including party info) is public information and it gets you on a lot of mailing lists.
Pollsters sometimes poll "registered Republicans" but you can see how in an open primary state that might miss a lot of reliable GOP voters, who are probably from a younger cohort who never needed to register with a party to BE Republicans (or Democrats).
I crossover voted this year, pulling a GOP primary ballot to do my part to stop the Trumpocalypse. Because my state is open primary, it doesn't matter if I'm registered D, R, or nothing.
(I think most people these days either register at end of high school banquet type events when the League of Women Voters likes to hang around and register 18-year-olds, or when they get or update their drivers' license, those are the lowest-friction methods. You can see how it'd be harder for lower-education voters, people who don't drive, etc. It's easy to grab people already enmeshed in government bureaucracy, but much harder to reach people who live on the margins of the economy or society.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:13 AM on March 14, 2016 [4 favorites]
I'm a reliable Democrat -- I do election work for them, I canvass for them, I ran for office -- but I'm not registered to vote as a Democrat, partly because there's no real point in an open-primary state, and partly because your voter registration (including party info) is public information and it gets you on a lot of mailing lists.
Pollsters sometimes poll "registered Republicans" but you can see how in an open primary state that might miss a lot of reliable GOP voters, who are probably from a younger cohort who never needed to register with a party to BE Republicans (or Democrats).
I crossover voted this year, pulling a GOP primary ballot to do my part to stop the Trumpocalypse. Because my state is open primary, it doesn't matter if I'm registered D, R, or nothing.
(I think most people these days either register at end of high school banquet type events when the League of Women Voters likes to hang around and register 18-year-olds, or when they get or update their drivers' license, those are the lowest-friction methods. You can see how it'd be harder for lower-education voters, people who don't drive, etc. It's easy to grab people already enmeshed in government bureaucracy, but much harder to reach people who live on the margins of the economy or society.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:13 AM on March 14, 2016 [4 favorites]
Like kat518, I live in a city that has essentially no Republicans so the Democratic primary is the venue where my vote counts and if I didn't register as a Democrat, I've have no say at all. The general elections here are often uncontested or have only a token Republican candidate who doesn't even bother to campaign; the current Democratic mayor won with 84% of the vote last time. So if I registered as an independent, no party affiliation, I'd be giving up the chance to make any difference in my local government.
posted by octothorpe at 4:47 AM on March 14, 2016
posted by octothorpe at 4:47 AM on March 14, 2016
Rules vary greatly state to state. Some require that you register with a certain party, some do not. Some require that you be registered days (or months) before the election and some allow you to register at the polling place.
My state does not require me to register with, or vote for, any specific party. I can vote for a Democratic president, a Republican senator, and a Green Party mayor on the same ballot.
My state has very easy registration and often the largest voter turnout. Lots of people get registered by our state's drivers license bureau. Many register at the polls.
The data needed in my state to register is your name, address, and one very minor form of ID (even an electrical bill is enough). If you don't have this a neighbor from your polling place can certify you are a resident and you will be registered. Very, very easy.
Other states have pretty large hurdles, I think some rules are old racist policies that haven't been remedied but honestly I don't know much about the other states.
posted by littlewater at 5:44 AM on March 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
My state does not require me to register with, or vote for, any specific party. I can vote for a Democratic president, a Republican senator, and a Green Party mayor on the same ballot.
My state has very easy registration and often the largest voter turnout. Lots of people get registered by our state's drivers license bureau. Many register at the polls.
The data needed in my state to register is your name, address, and one very minor form of ID (even an electrical bill is enough). If you don't have this a neighbor from your polling place can certify you are a resident and you will be registered. Very, very easy.
Other states have pretty large hurdles, I think some rules are old racist policies that haven't been remedied but honestly I don't know much about the other states.
posted by littlewater at 5:44 AM on March 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks, everyone, that answers my question.
For context, and to explain why I found the issue puzzling, the UK has little-to-no relationship between voter registration and party affiliation. The state manages the right to vote in local, regional, national and European elections, and political parties manage the selection of candidates and officers entirely internally. There is no connection between the two, unless a party's rules require members to be registered voters (which, as far as I know, none does).
So, we have no concept of what it might mean to be a 'registered Labour voter'. But I do now.
posted by Devonian at 5:49 AM on March 14, 2016 [2 favorites]
For context, and to explain why I found the issue puzzling, the UK has little-to-no relationship between voter registration and party affiliation. The state manages the right to vote in local, regional, national and European elections, and political parties manage the selection of candidates and officers entirely internally. There is no connection between the two, unless a party's rules require members to be registered voters (which, as far as I know, none does).
So, we have no concept of what it might mean to be a 'registered Labour voter'. But I do now.
posted by Devonian at 5:49 AM on March 14, 2016 [2 favorites]
Our electoral process is pretty convoluted. You register with a specific party so that you can vote in Primary elections. I'm a democrat. So when our state voted for our choice to run for president, I had a choice between Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and a couple of people I've never heard of. Republicans picked between Donald Drumpf, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and a few others.
The idea is to allow the cream to rise to the top. Pardon my saying so, but in this instance, it's really allowing the dregs to fall to the bottom.
The way our elected officials campaign nationwide means that if the primaries for all the states took place on the same day that our General elections would look VERY different than what we end up with. Mostly it just gives these jokers more time to show their assess. So we get a Primary season spanning over months. With people pandering state-by-state as the elections go on.
What I'm praying for is that after Tuesday (our elections are usually on Tuesdays,) that the Republican race will come down to Drumpf or Cruz. Then all the voters who were supporting Rubio will back Cruz and at least not make it a walk-away for Drumpf.
Now ask about why we have Conventions to determine candidates after we go through all of this nonsense.
Basically, we have an 18th century election model.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:58 AM on March 14, 2016 [2 favorites]
The idea is to allow the cream to rise to the top. Pardon my saying so, but in this instance, it's really allowing the dregs to fall to the bottom.
The way our elected officials campaign nationwide means that if the primaries for all the states took place on the same day that our General elections would look VERY different than what we end up with. Mostly it just gives these jokers more time to show their assess. So we get a Primary season spanning over months. With people pandering state-by-state as the elections go on.
What I'm praying for is that after Tuesday (our elections are usually on Tuesdays,) that the Republican race will come down to Drumpf or Cruz. Then all the voters who were supporting Rubio will back Cruz and at least not make it a walk-away for Drumpf.
Now ask about why we have Conventions to determine candidates after we go through all of this nonsense.
Basically, we have an 18th century election model.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:58 AM on March 14, 2016 [2 favorites]
I'm a registered voter: I can and do vote in every election, local state or national. I'm NOT a registered party member (Democrat, Republican, Libertarian or anything else), although my state, Virginia, lets anyone vote in any (one) primary, registered with that party or not --- you can't vote in more than one party's primary per election though.
And just to keep things clear or at least clear-ish: a 'primary' is where a political party chooses their official party candidate for the actual election. It doesn't mean disgruntled primary losers can't run in the election --- they can and sometimes do! --- it just means only the primary winner will have the party muscle and money backing them in the election. If a primary loser chooses to run anyway, they'll call themselves an 'independent' (as in independent of party support) and run on whatever grassroots support they can find.
posted by easily confused at 6:05 AM on March 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
And just to keep things clear or at least clear-ish: a 'primary' is where a political party chooses their official party candidate for the actual election. It doesn't mean disgruntled primary losers can't run in the election --- they can and sometimes do! --- it just means only the primary winner will have the party muscle and money backing them in the election. If a primary loser chooses to run anyway, they'll call themselves an 'independent' (as in independent of party support) and run on whatever grassroots support they can find.
posted by easily confused at 6:05 AM on March 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
One more wrinkle: not all states in the U.S. have party registration as part of the vote registration process. Mine (Minnesota) does not. This article from Huffpost isn't completely clear, but suggests that only 31 states have party registration. For years, I was just as confused as you.
posted by Alluring Mouthbreather at 6:08 AM on March 14, 2016
posted by Alluring Mouthbreather at 6:08 AM on March 14, 2016
My political science professor used to say that not registering with a party is basically throwing half of your vote away because most places have closed primaries
This is true, but in practice you are also likely to get half as much political shit at election time -- mailed or over the phone -- as an unaffiliated voter. If you want the Other Side to spend money on you that will go to waste, that's fine, but elections generate a lot of campaign shit.
posted by holgate at 6:36 AM on March 14, 2016
This is true, but in practice you are also likely to get half as much political shit at election time -- mailed or over the phone -- as an unaffiliated voter. If you want the Other Side to spend money on you that will go to waste, that's fine, but elections generate a lot of campaign shit.
posted by holgate at 6:36 AM on March 14, 2016
In some states, the parties are among the primary drivers of registration efforts. You'll see desks or kiosks set up in public places with signs saying "Register as an X here!" And they'll have forms with the party affiliation already checked, and they'll mail the form in for you.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 6:44 AM on March 14, 2016
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 6:44 AM on March 14, 2016
Also: being registered with one of the political parties does NOT require you to actually vote for that party's candidate in the election --- being a registered Democrat doesn't mean you have to vote for Clinton or Sanders or whatever wild-card wins the Democratic primary, ditto for the Republicans. Nor does voting in a party's primary, registered with that party or not, mean you must vote the party line in the actual election.
The only time and place registered party affiliation limits you is in the states with closed primaries --- states with open primaries are required to let any legal voter participate, unless of course they've already voted in another party's primary. (One primary per voter, max.) And closed or open primary, when it gets to the actual election, there is no party restriction on who you can vote for.
posted by easily confused at 7:05 AM on March 14, 2016 [2 favorites]
The only time and place registered party affiliation limits you is in the states with closed primaries --- states with open primaries are required to let any legal voter participate, unless of course they've already voted in another party's primary. (One primary per voter, max.) And closed or open primary, when it gets to the actual election, there is no party restriction on who you can vote for.
posted by easily confused at 7:05 AM on March 14, 2016 [2 favorites]
The only time and place registered party affiliation limits you is in the states with closed primaries --- states with open primaries are required to let any legal voter participate, unless of course they've already voted in another party's primary.
This isn't quite true, there's no particular legal requirement that open primaries be open to all voters. There's at least one state (Massachusetts) with what I've sometimes heard called "semi-open" primaries, where independent voters (unenrolled is the legal term in Massachusetts) are allowed to vote in any primary, but voters registered as members of a party must vote in that party's primary.
posted by firechicago at 7:13 AM on March 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
This isn't quite true, there's no particular legal requirement that open primaries be open to all voters. There's at least one state (Massachusetts) with what I've sometimes heard called "semi-open" primaries, where independent voters (unenrolled is the legal term in Massachusetts) are allowed to vote in any primary, but voters registered as members of a party must vote in that party's primary.
posted by firechicago at 7:13 AM on March 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
"Basically, we have an 18th century election model."
But in the case of primaries, that's actually the result of the Progressive Era's (1890-1920ish) fight against caucuses and party machines where candidates were chosen without reference to the will of the voters and were put up by powerful, and corrupt, party machines. Primaries allowed ALL voters who registered with a party to help select that party's candidates, instead of it being left to smoke-filled back rooms where wads of cash exchanged hands, and only certain people were allowed to participate, often leaving voters with few and poor choices in the general election, as the decisions had already been made in closed caucuses or by party machines. Primaries are actually among the most modern systems for choosing candidates.
(Which isn't to say they necessarily work great. But in the case of partisan primaries, it's not a legacy model creaking in from 1789.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:39 AM on March 14, 2016 [6 favorites]
But in the case of primaries, that's actually the result of the Progressive Era's (1890-1920ish) fight against caucuses and party machines where candidates were chosen without reference to the will of the voters and were put up by powerful, and corrupt, party machines. Primaries allowed ALL voters who registered with a party to help select that party's candidates, instead of it being left to smoke-filled back rooms where wads of cash exchanged hands, and only certain people were allowed to participate, often leaving voters with few and poor choices in the general election, as the decisions had already been made in closed caucuses or by party machines. Primaries are actually among the most modern systems for choosing candidates.
(Which isn't to say they necessarily work great. But in the case of partisan primaries, it's not a legacy model creaking in from 1789.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:39 AM on March 14, 2016 [6 favorites]
For context, and to explain why I found the issue puzzling, the UK has little-to-no relationship between voter registration and party affiliation. The state manages the right to vote in local, regional, national and European elections, and political parties manage the selection of candidates and officers entirely internally. There is no connection between the two, unless a party's rules require members to be registered voters (which, as far as I know, none does).
Most of these changes were forced onto the parties by law in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in an explicit attempt to weaken parties. The idea was that Americans are by and large concerned, interested, and informed citizens and that party organizations were a barrier preventing these concerned, interested, and informed citizens from getting the policies that they soberly considered to be the best. Which, fine, whatever, but the basic underpinnings of the idea are catastrophically wrong; Americans by and large don't care very much about politics and know shockingly little about who's done what. Similarly, the idea of a "will of the people" that can be subverted itself turns out to be simply wrong; in most any circumstances it is impossible for such a thing to exist.
Primary elections, where the party's nominee is decided by an election run by the government, are the basic result. In my experience, talking to non-Americans about parties and primaries is one of the hardest things to get across, but here are some corrections to things foreigners (mostly Canadians) seem to believe with some frequency.
(1) The party organizations have no say in who runs in their primary. The party organization does not and cannot vet candidates to make sure that they more-or-less believe in the stated policy goals of the party; there's no initial committee you have to satisfy before you appear on the primary ballot. Any malodorous fuckface that ponies up the fees and gets the trivial number of signatures is on the primary ballot, even if they have for 25+ years publicly stated policy goals contrary to those of the party. I can run in the Democratic primary while promising to abolish all taxation and re-enslave black people, and I can run in the Republican primary on a platform of communist revolution and forcing everyone to have gay sex at least once. The only way to stop people from doing shit like that, as far as I am aware, is to file lawsuits on a case-by-case basis and hope you can convince a judge that the candidate's views are so out to lunch that you should be able to keep them off your ballot. Similarly, if you win the primary, you're the party's candidate, even if the party hates you and is opposed to your candidacy. Not too long ago this hilariously-but-not-at-all-funny racist chucklehead entered a Republican primary for US House where nobody else had entered (because at the time no actual Republicans felt like getting their asses kicked by John Tanner), so he became the nominee and the party had to run ads to the effect of "Please don't vote for our candidate, he is a fuckhead who stole our nomination. Also we don't actually believe in forcibly sterilizing all nonwhites."
(2) Parties have no ability whatsoever to parachute candidates in. None. At all. Ever, under any circumstances.
(3) You don't have to be a party member in any real sense to participate in a primary election. In states with open primaries, anybody can vote in any primary they want to; I can register as a Democrat and vote in the Republican primary. There are different degrees of semi-open primaries where registered D's vote in the D primary but people who register unaffiliated can vote in whichever they prefer that time. And in closed primaries, only people who register D can vote in the D primary. But even then nobody is allowed to police who registers which way -- I can register R even if I fervently hope for the communist Revolution, and I can register D even if I fervently hope to establish a Baptist theocracy.
There are things the parties can do about it, a little bit around the edges. Democratic superdelegates are one example, but you can see around metafilter how popular the idea that the party should have some say in its own nominees is. And from time to time a party will successfully dissociate itself from the government's primary election and use some other means to select its own nominees (but the primary still happens).
To sum up in an analogy, law in the US requires that (say) Williams is not allowed to select their own drivers. Instead, they are required to allow the government to run an election which determines who their drivers will be. Anyone who wants to can be a candidate in this election, and anyone who wants to can vote in the election, and the party has no realistic means to police either. If some places tifosi can walk right up to the voting station in their Ferrari gear and request a Williams ballot, and nobody gets to say "But dude, you're tifosi." In other places you our hypothetical tifosi would have had to register ahead of time as a Williams voter, but again nobody gets to say boo about it.
[bugs]What a way to run a railroad.[/bugs]
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:50 AM on March 14, 2016 [3 favorites]
Most of these changes were forced onto the parties by law in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in an explicit attempt to weaken parties. The idea was that Americans are by and large concerned, interested, and informed citizens and that party organizations were a barrier preventing these concerned, interested, and informed citizens from getting the policies that they soberly considered to be the best. Which, fine, whatever, but the basic underpinnings of the idea are catastrophically wrong; Americans by and large don't care very much about politics and know shockingly little about who's done what. Similarly, the idea of a "will of the people" that can be subverted itself turns out to be simply wrong; in most any circumstances it is impossible for such a thing to exist.
Primary elections, where the party's nominee is decided by an election run by the government, are the basic result. In my experience, talking to non-Americans about parties and primaries is one of the hardest things to get across, but here are some corrections to things foreigners (mostly Canadians) seem to believe with some frequency.
(1) The party organizations have no say in who runs in their primary. The party organization does not and cannot vet candidates to make sure that they more-or-less believe in the stated policy goals of the party; there's no initial committee you have to satisfy before you appear on the primary ballot. Any malodorous fuckface that ponies up the fees and gets the trivial number of signatures is on the primary ballot, even if they have for 25+ years publicly stated policy goals contrary to those of the party. I can run in the Democratic primary while promising to abolish all taxation and re-enslave black people, and I can run in the Republican primary on a platform of communist revolution and forcing everyone to have gay sex at least once. The only way to stop people from doing shit like that, as far as I am aware, is to file lawsuits on a case-by-case basis and hope you can convince a judge that the candidate's views are so out to lunch that you should be able to keep them off your ballot. Similarly, if you win the primary, you're the party's candidate, even if the party hates you and is opposed to your candidacy. Not too long ago this hilariously-but-not-at-all-funny racist chucklehead entered a Republican primary for US House where nobody else had entered (because at the time no actual Republicans felt like getting their asses kicked by John Tanner), so he became the nominee and the party had to run ads to the effect of "Please don't vote for our candidate, he is a fuckhead who stole our nomination. Also we don't actually believe in forcibly sterilizing all nonwhites."
(2) Parties have no ability whatsoever to parachute candidates in. None. At all. Ever, under any circumstances.
(3) You don't have to be a party member in any real sense to participate in a primary election. In states with open primaries, anybody can vote in any primary they want to; I can register as a Democrat and vote in the Republican primary. There are different degrees of semi-open primaries where registered D's vote in the D primary but people who register unaffiliated can vote in whichever they prefer that time. And in closed primaries, only people who register D can vote in the D primary. But even then nobody is allowed to police who registers which way -- I can register R even if I fervently hope for the communist Revolution, and I can register D even if I fervently hope to establish a Baptist theocracy.
There are things the parties can do about it, a little bit around the edges. Democratic superdelegates are one example, but you can see around metafilter how popular the idea that the party should have some say in its own nominees is. And from time to time a party will successfully dissociate itself from the government's primary election and use some other means to select its own nominees (but the primary still happens).
To sum up in an analogy, law in the US requires that (say) Williams is not allowed to select their own drivers. Instead, they are required to allow the government to run an election which determines who their drivers will be. Anyone who wants to can be a candidate in this election, and anyone who wants to can vote in the election, and the party has no realistic means to police either. If some places tifosi can walk right up to the voting station in their Ferrari gear and request a Williams ballot, and nobody gets to say "But dude, you're tifosi." In other places you our hypothetical tifosi would have had to register ahead of time as a Williams voter, but again nobody gets to say boo about it.
[bugs]What a way to run a railroad.[/bugs]
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:50 AM on March 14, 2016 [3 favorites]
I work the polls in Vermont. People have to be registered to vote in general before they arrive at the polls (a certain number of days) and we have a list of every registered voter. They do not have to be registered with a party, though they can be.
People come in and tell us their name, we check it off a list and, for the primaries, ask them if they want a D or a R ballot for the presidential primaries. These are their only choices. They can't take both. They could take neither. We write down which they picked and they will get harassed (i.e. email, phone calls, mailings, whatever) by that party, who gets this information, until the presidential election. No one knows how they voted unless the voter opts to tell them. For the main elections they can vote for anyone, they get one ballot.
Many people in my town opted to take an R ballot even though they were D because Bernie was a shoo-in and they were hoping to vote against Trump. In fact, Trump lost in my town to Kasich which is sort of weird. You can change your party affiliation any time.
The big deal is that this varies incredibly state by state and that voter registration is public (according to a complicated system of laws) so being registered with a party has a lot more to do with that party contacting you during election season.
posted by jessamyn at 8:44 AM on March 14, 2016
People come in and tell us their name, we check it off a list and, for the primaries, ask them if they want a D or a R ballot for the presidential primaries. These are their only choices. They can't take both. They could take neither. We write down which they picked and they will get harassed (i.e. email, phone calls, mailings, whatever) by that party, who gets this information, until the presidential election. No one knows how they voted unless the voter opts to tell them. For the main elections they can vote for anyone, they get one ballot.
Many people in my town opted to take an R ballot even though they were D because Bernie was a shoo-in and they were hoping to vote against Trump. In fact, Trump lost in my town to Kasich which is sort of weird. You can change your party affiliation any time.
The big deal is that this varies incredibly state by state and that voter registration is public (according to a complicated system of laws) so being registered with a party has a lot more to do with that party contacting you during election season.
posted by jessamyn at 8:44 AM on March 14, 2016
Parties have no ability whatsoever to parachute candidates in. None. At all. Ever, under any circumstances.
There are certain states, and certain circumstances where this is possible. Usually it's when a candidate has won the primary and then withdraws their candidacy, and even then, it has to happen a certain number of weeks before the election, meaning practically there's a fairly narrow window. So it's very uncommon, but not unheard of. This is how Alan Keyes (a former diplomat and perennial candidate from Maryland) became Obama's opponent in the 2004 Illinois Senate race.
posted by firechicago at 10:09 AM on March 14, 2016
There are certain states, and certain circumstances where this is possible. Usually it's when a candidate has won the primary and then withdraws their candidacy, and even then, it has to happen a certain number of weeks before the election, meaning practically there's a fairly narrow window. So it's very uncommon, but not unheard of. This is how Alan Keyes (a former diplomat and perennial candidate from Maryland) became Obama's opponent in the 2004 Illinois Senate race.
posted by firechicago at 10:09 AM on March 14, 2016
I work the polls in Vermont. People have to be registered to vote in general before they arrive at the polls (a certain number of days) and we have a list of every registered voter. They do not have to be registered with a party, though they can be.
And even this can vary by state. In some states you don't have to be registered to vote prior to election day. You can register at the polling place. In Minnesota, you can register at the polling place and you don't even need photo ID to do so.
posted by Alluring Mouthbreather at 10:17 AM on March 14, 2016
And even this can vary by state. In some states you don't have to be registered to vote prior to election day. You can register at the polling place. In Minnesota, you can register at the polling place and you don't even need photo ID to do so.
posted by Alluring Mouthbreather at 10:17 AM on March 14, 2016
There are certain states, and certain circumstances where this is possible. Usually it's when a candidate has won the primary and then withdraws their candidacy
I meant instances where the party organization simply decided that Person was going to be the nominee in X District and either didn't bother with whatever their nominal vaguely-democratic decision-making process would normally be, or made it moot by not allowing others to challenge, or just ignored its result.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:16 AM on March 14, 2016
I meant instances where the party organization simply decided that Person was going to be the nominee in X District and either didn't bother with whatever their nominal vaguely-democratic decision-making process would normally be, or made it moot by not allowing others to challenge, or just ignored its result.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:16 AM on March 14, 2016
There's also an intertwined party process parallel to the government-run elections. The primaries and caucuses determine how many delegates each candidate receive. Those delegates can be selected in a state party convention (along with other matters like endorsements in state-wide elections, election of party officers, etc.). The national delegates, pledged to vote for a specific candidate, go to the national party convention. If no candidate achieves a majority on the first vote, you have a brokered convention. On subsequent votes, those delegates become unbound and can vote for whomever as a nominee.
(Please correct me if I've made mistakes.)
posted by JackBurden at 9:40 AM on March 15, 2016
(Please correct me if I've made mistakes.)
posted by JackBurden at 9:40 AM on March 15, 2016
This thread is closed to new comments.
So a registered Republican is a registered voter who has registered an affiliation with the Republican party, and may vote in the Republican primary in their state of residence. One is not obliged to vote for one's party candidate in the general election.
posted by gingerest at 3:57 AM on March 14, 2016 [8 favorites]