In many states the party you’re registered with is public. Who you voted for is kept private. The fact that you voted can’t be kept private in any real way if you’re voting in person.
“Registered republican/democrat” is a very common phrase. I don’t think that expression does anything to whitewash anyone, it’s just a normal thing to hear.
Those are actually two entirely separate things. Membership in a local political party in the US is unrelated to whether you vote for that party. Party members are more active in organizing and generally have to be approved by other party members, whereas anyone can register as a party voter (in states that require/allow that).
Thats horribly confusing. What’s the point of non members being able to vote? Sounds like this is just another type of membership which isn’t officially called a membership
Oh, it gets even worse. Some states require party identification when registering to vote, some are optional, and others don’t ask about it at all. Relatedly, the party primaries can be “open” (anyone can vote in it) or “closed” (only party-identified voters can participate). Also, the party may choose to do a caucus instead of a primary, so instead of just casting a ballot to choose a nominee, registered party voters select party members who have declared for a nominee and then they hold votes to see if a nominee has enough votes to win.
And that’s the simplified version. It’s a total clusterfuck and if there was a national standard that was easily understandable, things would be so much better.
WTF does that even mean? Voting during elections is anonymous, isn’t it?
In many states the party you’re registered with is public. Who you voted for is kept private. The fact that you voted can’t be kept private in any real way if you’re voting in person.
When you register to vote you can register yourself as a member of a political party which allows you to vote in their primaries.
Then it should not be “registered republican voter” - it should be “Republican party member”
Somone tries whitewash the party in that article
“Registered republican/democrat” is a very common phrase. I don’t think that expression does anything to whitewash anyone, it’s just a normal thing to hear.
Those are actually two entirely separate things. Membership in a local political party in the US is unrelated to whether you vote for that party. Party members are more active in organizing and generally have to be approved by other party members, whereas anyone can register as a party voter (in states that require/allow that).
Thats horribly confusing. What’s the point of non members being able to vote? Sounds like this is just another type of membership which isn’t officially called a membership
Oh, it gets even worse. Some states require party identification when registering to vote, some are optional, and others don’t ask about it at all. Relatedly, the party primaries can be “open” (anyone can vote in it) or “closed” (only party-identified voters can participate). Also, the party may choose to do a caucus instead of a primary, so instead of just casting a ballot to choose a nominee, registered party voters select party members who have declared for a nominee and then they hold votes to see if a nominee has enough votes to win.
And that’s the simplified version. It’s a total clusterfuck and if there was a national standard that was easily understandable, things would be so much better.
It’s public record. Why? I don’t know.