• kwomp2@sh.itjust.works
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    5 months ago

    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?

    • RestrictedAccount@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      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.

    • tillary@sh.itjust.works
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      5 months ago

      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.

      • dylanmorgan@slrpnk.net
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        5 months ago

        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.

      • kwomp2@sh.itjust.works
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        5 months ago

        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

        • mkwt@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          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.

        • prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works
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          5 months ago

          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

        • xenspidey@lemmy.zip
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          5 months ago

          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.

    • conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works
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      5 months ago

      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.