this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2024
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Technical question: I don't get what that registration is. Was he a member of the party?
Is it just the registration to be eligble to vote and if yes, how the fluff does it contain info on the party? Doesn't the US have secrecy of the ballot?
I haven't seen this mentioned yet, but you're required to register a party affiliation before you can vote in the primaries. As a liberal, I've considered registering Republican in situations where the Democratic nominee has pretty much been decided and I want to give a boost to less polarizing Republican candidates. Pennsylvania is one such state that uses the closed party system (you need to be Republican to vote in Republican primaries). I've since moved to a state that allows "Independent party" members to choose the primary they wish to vote in.
Not saying this explains the shooter's party affiliation, we still need to wait on all the details. Just something to keep in mind so we don't jump to conclusions.
That varies state to state. Some states (like Texas) have open primaries where you just choose at the voting station which ballot you want. Others (like Pennsylvania) have closed primaries where you have to be registered as a member of the party to vote in the primary.
The USA doesn’t really have party members in the sense you’re thinking. It’s not a club that you either belong to or don’t. Being a "party member" can have different meanings depending on context.
Political parties exist at both the state level and the national level, and the state parties mostly operate independently of the national parties. Each U.S. state has different rules governing political parties and how they work, and each state party has its own rules for how it administers itself.
You only need to care about that stuff if you want to be a party official or a candidate for political office. As an ordinary voter, all you really need to care about is whether your state has party registration or not, and to register with the party you intend to vote for, as many states only allow you to participate in the primary election for the party in which you are registered to vote for.
As for ballot secrecy, yes, how you actually vote is private information, but how you registered to vote, and what elections you voted in, are public information.
Thanks alot.
This is a confusing/interesting way of ballot secrecy. Basically it sounds like: You have to make a public statement for one political party, but you are allowed to lie. Thus it's secret
When the general election comes around, your ballot is still secret. So you can publicly declare a registration for the Republican party, but then vote secretly for the Democratic candidate. (Or vice versa)
In the UK, if you want to have some effect on which candidates are selected by a party, you usually have to join the party and go to meetings and stuff. In the US, parties mostly use public primary elections to select candidates, and the primary elections are run by the same government bodies that run the general election. That's why the voter registration cares about the party.
Party affiliation is not official, you’re a member of the party but that’s just a private organization.
It’s like being a member of any other organization, membership required to take part in voting.
Primary voting (selecting the candidate of the party ) is held by the parties and not by the state
In some States like mine, you become a party member by voting in the primary. There's no form or anything. You ask for an R or D ballet and now you're registered as that party until the next primary. There were a lot of D's that were voting on the R primary to try and keep Trump out a few cycles ago.
The idea behind party registration is that it prevents people from trying to spoil another party's primary.
If you're allowed to vote in both, you could vote for the candidate you think is best for your party, and the candidate you think is worst for the other party.
Requiring party registration allows the primary election for each to be gatekept.
You're not obligated to vote for the party that you're registered to on election day, and voting across the aisle doesn't really count as "lying", though there are some people who do register for the party they oppose for weird reasons.
My state (WA) used to require party registration, but now they just use a combined primary ballot, and if you vote on both sides of it they shred it. They eliminated party registration because formerly registered independents couldn't vote in either primary, and that generally wasn't great since independents still have to operate inside of a largely obligate two party system.
In most states, only party members can vote in their party’s primary elections.
Primary elections are held before the general election to pick the party’s candidates for the general.
Minor point of clarification:
Pennsylvania is one of only 14 states with closed primaries
That's kind of true, but it depends. Most states don't have laws requiring closed primaries and allows the party to choose which voters to include. However, in general the Republican party tends to have closed primaries when possible.
They are closed in Pennsylvania, though.
https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/state-primary-election-types
Maybe he wanted to vote against Trump several times: both in the primary and main
If I remember right, Haley was already out of the PA primary.
I don't know, it's just an urge to interfere with the US politics in any way
You generally need to register with a party to participate in party primaries.
Some states allow you to do it day of, some require large lead times.