I’m registered as an independent, so I can’t vote in either of the primaries today (and I like it that way). If you are an American registered with one party or the other, though, and in a state holding a primary today, go vote.
End of civic duty nag.
Some states allow independents to vote (Illinois, at least).
So, uh. Figure out if you can, eh?
Voting in races you know something about is good. Voting in races you don’t… Well. It’s not awful, but seems unproductive?
I already did!
I wonder how many people are actually reminded by a blog entry, or something like it. We see them all over the place (hell, I even did one), but it strikes me as unlikely that they do anything. Who knows though?
And some states don’t do party registration. Here in Alabama, you tell the workers at the polling place whether you want the ballot for the Republican or Democratic party, and for primaries where other stuff is being voted on (not this one, since it’s just the presidential primary; there should be another primary around May/June for all of the other offices), you can get a ballot that just includes the other stuff.
I’m not registered with any party affiliation, because I’ve never voted straight ticket, but Texas isn’t for a month, anyway. OTOH, I think (can’t find a good source, really) that the Dems have an open primary here, so I could possibly actually get a vote in then, *and* it might actually make a difference, as Texas could be the deciding factor if things fall out at the end of the day as split as many are predicting.
I’m not officially signed up with either party (although for the last several years at least, de facto affiliation has been pretty much a no-brainer), but here in California, all you have to do (on the Democratic side, at least) is request a partisan ballot. I sent my mail-in ballot in last week.
“Yes, we can.”
A question from a Canadian (a real one from Toronto! i.e. I’m not b***k): What if you don’t “register” as anything (R D or I)? Do you get to vote in the real election?
A question from a Canadian (a real one from Toronto! i.e. I’m not b***k): What if you don’t “register” as anything (R D or I)? Do you get to vote in the real election?
All I need to register myself as is a citizen of appropriate age.
Already voted. There are some darn important propositions on the CA ballot, and I may actually have some vague influence on a presidential candidate for the first time in my life.
What is really weird is, for the second time, there was an exit poll at my polling station and this time I could fill the poll out. I have never been exit polled before.
To answer Andy’s question, anyone can vote in a real election, as long as they are registered to vote in their state. Party affiliation only matters for vorting for which candidate the party puts forward in the general election. Think of primaries as deciding votes in the leadership convention ahead of time. Delegates are pledged to a candidate and they go to the convention. If a candidate has a clear lead before the convention begins, then they become the candidate for the general election, otherwise there will be lots of horse trading at the convention.
Brad: Thanks. Now I understand. I know what a leadership convention is.
Silly Q #2: Do Americans vote for local politicians, state politicians, etc. all at the same time (even the apocryphal dogcatcher)? And are the candidates for these lower-level positions also decided in the same way (i.e. grassroots primaries ?) Do independents ever win anything, or is it all D or R?
Thanks for your help. Your politics are confusing to me.
@Andy #9: It depends on the state. In most states the presidential primary is separate from all other primaries (including US Senate and House of Representatives), but all of those other primaries are usually on the same day. However, some states (especially the ones with later presidential primaries) do all of the primaries on the same day. In many states a plurality is all that is needed, but others require a majority (Florida, where I grew up, is one of these states), and if no candidate wins a majority the top two advance to a run-off.
Two outliers: Louisiana puts all candidates of both parties in the general election and holds a run-off for races in which no candidates get a majority. In New Hampshire (where I live) town and school district races are decided on a different day (the second Tuesday in March–this was the original date for the NH presidential primary) from city, county, state, and federal races (primaries in early September and general election in November), and there are no primaries for town or school district races.
As for whether independents win anything: Yes, they do (including two current senators, Lieberman of CT and Sanders of VT), but it’s extraordinarily rare. In races where candidates’ partisan affiliations (if any) are declared on the ballot, more than 99% of winners are either D or R.
Additional information for Andy:
Even at the Federal level, there are some differences. Every member of the House of Representatives is up for re-election on the same day, every two years.
The President, though, is elected a four year term, so the trivial answer to your question is, “No, not everyone on the same day.”
And the Senators, just to keep things interesting, have six year terms. But, they are divided into three groups of overlapping terms, such that in any given two-year cycle, roughly one third are up for re-election.
At the present time, all those various Federal elections are held on the same day, which this year happens to be November 4. Prior to 1845, much more discretion was left to the individual States, probably because prior to the rise of the telegraph, synchronous elections just didn’t matter much. (Today, of course, even the time zone delay puts the squeeze on west coast states.)
Most states align themselves with the main election day, but not all do, and those that do sometimes choose an odd-numbered year. Local elections can effectively do whatever the hell they want. And the lower down you go on the level of government, the more you’ll see independent or third-party candidates. You can win at the federal level as a third party candidate, but it’s hard to do without the coordination and support that parties provide. A few elections ago, Ross Perot ran for President and got nearly 20% of the popular vote.