Does you state require you to identify a political party when you register to vote?

[kayte]

Just watching the pre-debate coverage and they were discussing polls of "registered Republicans", "registered independent", etc... I have lived in 5 states since I could vote. None of them required you to identify a party.

To vote in a primary, you can choose the day of which one you want to vote in.

Do how about your state?-- Are you required to identify a party affiliation?

[kijip]

No party registration. We had (very briefly) a closed primary system where you had to choose a party preference (not recorded by voter) and only vote in one party's primary. That was very repugnant to the majority of voters because WA voters were accustomed to an open primary where you could vote GOP primary for one race and Dem for another etc. The issue with the open primary is that the party could then end up with a weaker candidate due to people voting in their opposing primary for that race intentionally to knock out the competitive opponent. In 1996, the GOP nominee for governor was a quack (hated by most even in her party) and the Dem won hands down. The GOP was rightfully angry and general consensus was that Republicans alone would have ran a more competitive candidate.

What did the voters here replace the open system with? A top two. So regardless of party the top two candidates advance to the primary. You can vote for whoever the heck you want, regardless of party, in each race. Sounds nice to people that like open primaries but:

-We have 2 Democrats on the ballot in many races (and other places 2 Republicans), meaning many voters like neither of the general election options. And we have 2 so similar candidates in some cases, the voter would just as soon flip a coin.

-No third party candidates can cut it and stay around to be heard in general, no building party support over time.

-I can still opt to strategically vote for the weaker candidate to face my candidate that will safely advance to the general if I like. If I had not seen this happen here before, I would not be so worried about it. But it has happened in the past and will keep happening so long as the primary is not treated as a nominating process. Parties here are so concerned they are essentially threatening to blackball people in their own party that decide to run without the consensus of the active party members/state committee. So the primary in a big state race might have 1 Democrat, 1 Republican and a few 3rd party candidates on the ballot with the forgone conclusion of who advances and no input from the general electorate/non-activists. It's very retro and exclusive.

I think Louisiana is the only other state with this system.

[deannanb]

Growing up in Kansas - I remember being registered as an independent and if you wanted to vote in a primary you had to pick a party.

I did that once... then quickly after the day of voting changed back to independent. (details will get too political)

[o_mom]

In OH I had to. Made for some interesting times when they would have school ballots on the primaries and refused to let Independents vote...

Here - you have to declare a party on the day of the primary, but you are not registered to one and can switch at each primary if you want. No cross ballot voting like Katie described, though.

[Gena]

When I turned 18 and registered to vote in MI, I had to, but I registered as Independent.

When I moved to NYC and registered, there was a long list of check-off boxes to choose from. I didn't choose any of them and when I received my voter card I learned that I was listed as a member of the "Blank Party".

Moving back to MI, I registered there again and learned that MI had dropped the requirement to register with a party. But to vote in the primary you had to declare a party at the polls.

Now I live in Ohio. I did not have to pick a party to register. But to vote in the primary, you do have to sign an affidavit of party affilition. Or you can get an "issues-only" ballot to vote on things like school bonds. (Things must have changed since o_mom lived here.)

[o_mom]

Now I live in Ohio. I did not have to pick a party to register. But to vote in the primary, you do have to sign an affidavit of party affilition. Or you can get an "issues-only" ballot to vote on things like school bonds. (Things must have changed since o_mom lived here.)

Yes, that was a few years ago :wink2: .

I know that around the time I started voting there were several lawsuits over it because people were denied the right to vote on the issues in primaries. Since school levy votes were a huge thing (not sure if they still are), it was a major problem. I'm not surprised they fixed it. I'll have to ask my parents if their precinct has finally upgraded from punch card ballots, too.

[JTsMom]

In GA, we weren't even given the option, and we could vote in either primary. In FL, you do register by party (or as an Independent), and you can only vote in the primary you are registered for. If you register as an Independent, you can not vote in the primary.

[MontrealMum]

Basically the same as what Gena said above; when I originally registered in MI you had the choice of: Republican, Democrat, or Independant. If you wanted to vote in the primaries you had to be a registered member of that party. I believe that it was a decision not by the state, but by the MI's Republican and Democrat chapters, as the Rep. primaries were open to anyone earlier than the Dem. primaries were. Both of MI's top two parties dropped that some time in the 90s and the primaries were open. I don't know how it is there now.