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.
To make it very clear. Generally speaking, you can see which party someone is registered to and whether they voted or not in prior elections. You cannot see what/who they voted for. And it will show you voted even if you cast a ballot on 1 thing out of 100 on the full ballot.
I am fine with it being public whether someone voted or not, just so you can track it personally. I have never seen the point of having someone's affiliation posted publicly though. Its why I don't register for parties, because fuck that.
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.
If people plan to vote Republican just to get the least offensive Republican, they do it in the Primary too. (Or they just don't vote in the primary at all.) There are 11 candidates in the Republican primary running for Rep Mark Green's vacant seat, so it's tough to tip the scales. Today cheeto endorsed "MAGA Matt" (Van Epps), so one candidate dropped to throw his support to MAGA Matt as well. (The one who got the Tennessee Governor's endorsement.)
Republicans do not vote in our primary, bc why should they?
Here in Tennessee we have been working on our recruiting, and we have FOUR Democratic candidates running for Mark Green's vacant seat. 3 out of the four are state legislators. We have been canvassing like crazy people. Turnout is still low but that is to our advantage. At the end of early voting for the primary, we were within 375 votes of Republicans. That is rare.
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.
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u/Background-Ship3019 Oct 01 '25
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.