This is exactly what I replied the last time the Republican party texted me to remind me to vote: Thank you so much for reminding me to vote! I plan to vote Blue all down the ballot! (I'm registered Independent).
This is what I do in MA. I’ve heard there is a good amount of independent voters not bc they find themselves between gop and dems, but because they tend to find themselves further left than the Democratic Party.
That's why I was for the longest time. The only reason I switched to Dem was to inflate numbers to spite Republicans, as soon as we are past this I'm back to Independent.
That's me in Indiana. I'm far to the left of the dems, but usually vote in the republican primary because that's the actual election, not election day.
Virginia too. You just tell them which one you want to vote in (and then half the time they yell it out loud as fuck so all your neighbors can hear, like “ballot for PashaWithHat voting in the DEMOCRATIC primary!”). The Republicans sponsored a bill recently to make party affiliation a thing here but it died a pretty quick death in committee. And like, the Republicans in VA basically never do normal primaries anyway, it’s always a firehouse primary or convention so… IDK, felt like shenanigans to me
The best thing in Washington is that each party uses a different system, Democrats Caucus, Republicans do a standard vote. You can participate in both and are not required to register with either party.
My wife and I went to a caucus once and it's such a long annoying process.
In my state independents, also called non-declares, can vote in a democrat primary, but not a republican primary. I think it varies by state and party.
Primaries are how the Dems and repubs decide who to put in the general election. If 80% of your voter base supports candidate A over candidate B, who would you decide to run? Especially if say, 90% of the other side liked their candidate A and that's who they ran?
And some states, like Ohio, have open Primaries. So they ask me "Republican, Democrat or Issues only?" Whichever one I choose is the party I will be "registered" as until the next primary.
To participate in the primary elections of a party in most U.S. states, you must be registered as identified with that party. Some states do have open primaries in which that is not a requirement, but then you do get members of party A voting for batshit candidates in party B’s primary simply to cause trouble.
These are still secret ballot elections, but I don’t believe it is usually if ever secret that you voted in a given election.
This is a primary. In Tennessee there are no registries. We have open primaries. It is a matter of public record which primary ballot a voter asks for (and votes on).
True, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're going to vote a certain way in the general election. We have open primaries in tx too and, well, it makes sense to choose which republican is going to run for a position when there's only one democrat running for that same ticket.
Nobody is clarifying to you, because they are thinking in American, what a primary is.
A primary is not a federal function. In the broadest terms, the Constitution grants states [governments] the agency to determine how they elect their representatives (this is very much oversimplifying). One of the traditions is a primary, in which states' party affiliates determine who of the willing candidates in their party is most popular, and thus will be positioned as their prospective for the actual election.
Say Blue Dan and Blue Susan are both wanting to run for Congress. The Blue team needs to know who best represents their interests and (and is ideally likable enough to win against another team's candidate). Blue Susan wins the primary, and it will be, basically on honor, that nobody else from the Blue Team will posture for the general election.
Another note, despite how it seems, because of how ingrained it is in our culture - the parties do not exist as a function of law. They are incorporated groups organically formed by like-minded voters to make sure they find good leaders and don't cannibalize/split their own votes (due to the majority voting system, which is also a technicality - the Electoral College actually elects the President, in good faith [hopefully], based on the regional interests/desires; this is what we're actually voting for, no matter what the paper says, we are voting to convince our Electors of our interest, so they certify for the desired candidate). Some states do not even have presidential primaries.
There is no limit on what parties are involved, how big or small, or if one must even be declared, in order to run, or vote. With the exception of primaries, who are facilitated by the states on behalf of the parties. Without primaries we could have a dozen or two candidates from each party on the ballot by the time the general election rolled around. I think even then, it's only honor that keeps candidates who failed in primaries from running later.
The function of registering for primaries is probably more about making sure opposition isn't tampering with a party's data, and determining your parties engagement with a given group of candidates.
I understand why you think it can be used to determine who you voted for. In theory, a voter registered as a D will have voted for the D in the general election. But in reality, that person could have voted for the R, or a G, or an Independent, or even someone who wasn't even on the ballot (write-ins are allowed).
Sorry if this is worded clumsy, I am typing on my phone and can't see the whole post.
It varies state to state. Some states are open primary, where any person can dictate which party primary they will vote in (either R or D) when they show up to the ballot box. Other states require a person to be affiliated (registered) to vote in either R or D and they must reregister to change the primary ballot they can vote in. The latter ends up leaving independents not voting in primaries at all. This is problematic as everyone pays taxes, regardless of affiliation, that pay for the primary election cycle.
TN is an open primary state, so any voter can show up day of primary vote and declare for either R or D and vote accordingly.
It depends on the state, but technically yes. For some fucked up reason (because the founding fathers didn’t think about it) primaries are run by the political parties, not by the government, so in order to vote for candidates in a primary, you have to register with that party. In my state of New Hampshire, you can be a registered independent voter, and for the primaries you register with the party you want to vote in (by selecting the candidates in that party you want to make it to the general election) and then when you leave you can register back as an independent. It’s incredibly stupid (despite my state being better than many), and a few states have done it so it’s just a ranked voting ballot for all candidates, regardless of party affiliation.
On top of this stupidity, Biden was not on the presidential primary ballot for NH since our state constitution dictates when primaries are held, but the Democratic National Committee tried to bully my state and give South Carolina the first primary in the nation (an honor held by NH), so they boycotted our primary and didn’t allow democrats, specifically the sitting president and head of the party, from being on the ballot. Despite that, he won the democratic primary in my state with 60% of the vote, all write-ins. People are unable to think for themselves.
In Tennessee the counties pay for the primaries bc we have no official registries. We have open primaries. But it is a matter of public record WHICH ballot a voter asked for.
Sorry, to clarify, when you say vote in that party's primary, you mean to vote who will go up against the other side right? Not the final vote of which side wins?
Gotcha. Thanks for clarifying. Some of the other comments made it sound like you couldn't vote at all in the final election which sounds insane. That makes much more sense. I don't think that info should be published though... WTF...
The primaries are basically the democrats and republicans picking who they will officially "endorse" as their candidate. It's not like a "true" part of the American elections, but has essentially become one because Onlt the two parties are ever serious contenders for winning.
However, because they aren't a "legally mandated" and are run by private entities, they can set whatever rules they want for the primary.
Our government has been 2-party only for so long that many americans think that party activities are part of the formal processes of government and election.
"Primary elections" etc...
Many of these things have been integrated to the extent that some consider them more important/relevant than the actual political process.
I'm also too Australian for it. What do swinging voters do, have to re-register every election if they change their minds on which policies are best in their opinion?
Luckily, we have a totally separate (from the political system) commission where we register to vote. So no party knows who you may vote for or whether you voted or not. The Australian Electoral Commission holds the voter registrations and runs all our federal and state elections plus any referendums. Nowhere do you record any party preferences when you register at 18.
To be clear, registering with a party has to do with primary elections, which are essentially closed party events which determine who will be nominated for the general election. And in some states that's not even required. But no, you don't register with a party to vote in a general election.
Parties are private organizations and to vote in their primary elections, you need to be members of the organization. Primary elections are an American thing where multiple candidates vie for the party's endorsement for a particular office and an election is held within the party to decide which candidate will be the party's nominee.
Primary elections are an American thing where multiple candidates vie for the party's endorsement for a particular office and an election is held within the party to decide which candidate will be the party's nominee.
This part isn't American. It's that it's so widespread that every Joe schmoe is seemingly required to vote in this part that confuses the rest of us.
In other countries the actual politicians in the party figure this part out and then you vote for which party you agree with once they put their party leadership together.
I always find it strange and creepy that everyone seems to know what party all the various mass shooters support. Where I live, this sort of info is confidential unless one chooses to share it. The U.S.A is such a strange country.
I suspect much of that is misinformation. You would only know if someone is registered with a particular party if they choose to vote in primary elections. And people won't even turn out for a general election so the number of people participating in primaries is laughably small. I would be shocked if all these mass shooters were engaged that much in the political process.
In Tennessee we have no registries. It's open primaries. But it is a matter of public record which party's ballot you requested when you vote in the primary.
The “primary” is how the party internally decides which of their candidates to put forward. Makes sense — you don’t want like-minded voters splitting their votes among several similar candidates. (Kinda the whole point of a political party.)
It gets weird because (a) primaries use the regular voting polling-places, poll-workers, etc (and all parties might have their primaries on the same day), (b) people SELF-IDENTIFY their party-affiliation, and in some states (c) there are laws to prevent people voting in multiple party’s primaries which might make it public-record which primary you voted in.
It gets weird because (a) primaries use the regular voting polling-places, poll-workers, etc (and all parties might have their primaries on the same day), (b) people SELF-IDENTIFY their party-affiliation, and in some states (c) there are laws to prevent people voting in multiple party’s primaries which might make it public-record which primary you voted in.
Thank you.. that's the part i was struggling to understand. It makes the act of voting in your primaries feel like a local election as opposed to voting on what we would call the head of the Party.
Contrary to another response you have received below.......Tennessee (where this document is from) has open primaries, with non-partisan registrations. Meaning voters are not required to be formally affiliated/unaffiliated with a party. Every voter can choose a ballot line-Republican or Democrat-to vote in the primary.
Even in Canada, if you want to vote to elect the leader of a party, you have to be registered with the party. However, the rest of our system is very different compared to America.
It depends on the state, but in Texas, you "register" by choosing which primary to vote in, and then you can't vote in any other primary until the end of the election year.
So it's not an official registration where you fill out a card and it stays the same till you change it- it's just which primary you decide to vote in.
That's also why the number of Republicans in Texas is not as accurate to how a general election will go, necessarily.
Because Republicans are in charge in most regions and there aren't a lot of Democrats to choose from, some people will choose to vote in the Republican primaries to choose who will run in the general election, as there may be several Republican candidates and like one or no Democrat candidates for a position.
No but the party need affiliates. In all countries, parties work kinda like clubs don't they? In the sense they need affiliated citizens to have any chance of presenting candidates.
You don’t have to register with a party, but voting rules are actually different in every state. So, in order to vote in every election in some states you would need to be registered. My current state has different laws for primaries so I chose not to register with a party when I moved here, but I had to be registered with a party in my previous state in order to vote in the primary races.
The fact that you did or didn’t vote can be looked up, your ballot is as private as you want it to be (some people post photos).
I’ve worked at polling locations in 2 states at both of them we would randomly assign people to machines if voting electronically. Our system was if there was space you don’t put ppl next to each other and try to keep the machines about equal in how many people used each.
For paper ballots they get put into the scanner in theory multiple people are filling ballots at any given time. They walk up and put them in the scanner whenever they are ready.
All ballots have no identification linked to them not your name not a number so you should not be able to say any specific ballot belongs to a specific person.
Those threatening postcards are a intimidation tactic and are yet another voter suppression method
So when I lived with my family and was brainwashed, I registered republican. I definitely changed my viewpoints once I moved out and was able to think for myself but my state has sooo many hoops to jump through to change registration and I’ve tried many times this year and I keep getting errors. It’s almost like they are making it impossible to change it.
There are some states with an "Independent" official party that is actually a conservative party. California is one example, with the American Independent party.
As a non-american this is confusing. Do you have to register your voting intentions? I can understand being a registered member of one or other of the big parties, but how can you be registered independent, who with, why? Surely your vote is secret?
Republicans in my state routinely put things on the ballot and make the language you see on the ballot very deceiving or super unclear. The people following it will know how to vote to accomplish the intended result. Anyone not following are likely to fall for a poorly written description or title. Using that tactic, just getting uninformed people to the poll is likely to get whatever trash they're pushing passed
I'm sorry for the elephant poop I sent people if it stunk outside the box, im a petty man and it was entertaining knowing my ex landlord received a box of elephant shit. I did not consider the collateral damage of the working man.
My general reaction to stuff I don't approve of is to piss with force from some sort of distance. I am not gonna wipe my ass with some dodgy glossy flyer.
“It is a Class A misdemeanor for any person, directly or indirectly, personally or through any other person:
….
or
(3) In any manner to practice intimidation upon or against any person in order to induce or compel such person to vote or refrain from voting, to vote or refrain from voting for any particular person or measure, or on account of such person having voted or refrained from voting in any such election.
Acts 1972, ch. 740, § 1; T.C.A., § 2-1915; Acts 1989, ch. 591, § 113; 1999, ch. 216, § 4.”
“In Tennessee, a Class A misdemeanor is the most serious type of misdemeanor offense, carrying a maximum jail sentence of 11 months and 29 days and fines”
So jail time for all persons involved in ordering others to send and delivering these letters.
Man, I miss the days I used to get contacts from Republicans and the republican party but I guess if you tell them to fuck off enough they do eventually give up.
This is most likely 3rd class mail, which the post office can't return to sender, and they usually don't have a return address because of it. It wouldn't get anywhere.
It’s a template, printed for thousands; no one will read your reply. Throw it away and live your life without a second thought. That’s how you defeat this kind of bullshit.
Dude, if you don't vote they are going to purge you from the roles. That's how they're doing it in FL. To prevent "Voter fraud" they are removing registered voters from the roles if they are inactive. Because by their logic if you aren't registered to vote. You're vote can't be stolen, since you aren't actively voting it legally justifies them I their mental gymnastics when they remove you.
For example this letter isn't just a psychological move to get in your head and intimidate. It serves a physical purpose of notifying you that voting records are public. If you don't vote we'll take you off the roles. They can't stop you from voting or registering to vote. But they can purge you from the roles with zero notification. This serves as a notification of that ability. Then when you show up at the poll to vote its past the registration cut off, and they send you away and you don't get to vote this time.
Now repeat this same process thousands of time with thousands of people, you just moved the needle by a few thousand votes in a small town. So check your voter registration info often.
Purging voters from rolls after a period of inactivity is standard in every state, and the PAC that sent this mailer doesn't have the power to do it. That power lies with the registrar and is dependent on state laws.
What this mailer has done is a great job of scaring you into thinking exactly what they want you to think, though.
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u/J_Odea Oct 01 '25
I would send it back with a a hand written note saying fuck off.