Well yes, if you want to vote in a primary you may have to be affiliated with that party. You may have to belong to a party to sign a petition for a candidate to run. But the state takes no official action based on your party affiliation. It’s just a little bit of data. If you aren’t going to involve yourself in party activities it doesn’t matter what party you are affiliated with. It is just an oddity that the government has some superficial regulation of the private clubs known as political parties.
OP how did you “join” the Democratic party to begin with? Was there any document or acknowledgement of affiliation created? Is it even mandared in that jurisdiction that you officially join to vote in the primary?
Because for example, when I lived in MD I registered as a Democrat and voted in that primary. When I’ve lived in Virginia, I don’t have to register as anything and need never contact either party and all that happens on primary day is they ask me which ballot I want. When in PR I would have to sign a statement of affiliation on primary day but that would become moot after the general election, and later they also went to just “choose which table to go to”. In the last two cases unless I was actually signed in as part of some party committee or organization (e.g. Young Democrats, College Republicans), there was nothing to resign from. You just declared yourself something else.
Will joining another party remove you from your current membership or will you be bi-partisan? I see (cite) your choices include:
[ul]
[li] Aloha Aina Party (A)[/li][li] American Shopping Party (AS)[/li][li] Constitution Party of Hawaii (C)[/li][li] Democratic Party of Hawaii (D)[/li][li] Green Party of Hawaii (G)[/li][li] Libertarian Party of Hawaii (L)[/li][li] Hawaii Republican Party (R)[/li][/ul]
When lockdowns end and shops reopen, I foresee massive growth for the (AS) party.
My state is like that. If you have no party affiliation you can’t vote in a primary. You have to vote in the primary of the party you choose. There is no limit as to how many times you change but it has to be filed 55 days prior to the election.
I know the Dem primary in Hawaii is open to all, just that to get a mail-in ballot, you needed to be a member.
OP: What are you trying to do? For voting, it appears the State of Hawaii doesn’t register party affiliation, so there’s nothing to do there.
I’m not aware of any other legal definitions of party membership. The “Democratic Party” is made up of hundreds of different organizations (at least one for each state, multiple national organizations, possibly local organizations formally separate from a state or national organization, etc.); whether or not any of them considers you a ‘member’ is totally up to them. But, unless you’re trying to do something with that organization, who cares whether they consider you a ‘member’ (or a ‘supporter’ or whatever words they use)? What difference does it make?
[I’m assuming you’re not running for office or anything at that level; if so, my advice is frankly, don’t do it until you have enough experience to know the answer to this question already. Just like I’d advice not working on your home’s electric lines if you have to ask what a circuit is]
I have voted for Democratic candidates since 1976, and volunteered since 1972. I never “joined.” Referring to the “Democrat” party usually indicates a Republican troll.
Someone is over-sensitive.
I live in Illinois, which has open primaries. On one occasion it wasn’t until I was in transit to my polling place that I decided which party’s primary I would vote in.
Loach, I’m curious about your statement that you have to vote in the primary of the party you choose. Does your state never include referendums on primary ballots?
I worked at the primary we held last month. One precinct in my polling place had a hotly contested referendum related to who would get the fire protection contract (they are not part of a city, and the county does not provide fire protection). We had several voters ask for a nonpartisan ballot in that precinct. That referendum was all that was on that ballot.
Moderator Warning
That’s a double whammy, since both political potshots and accusations of trolling are prohibited in this forum. This is an official warning.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
I have always had a soft spot in my heart for The Rent Is Too Damn High Party. I mean, sure, you can talk about noble astractions like the Republic or Democracy or Liberty or about general groupings like Farmers or Workers or Families, but something that directly communicates what is it you have a problem with, and that come to think of it is simply true, is just special.
I’ve heard in Italy that (at least at one time) there was a party for getting rid of or raising Speed Limits.
The Bull-Goose Looney Party has a special place in my heart but it’s foreign. I’ll admit to joining the Platypus Party of San Francisco, whose mayoral candidate, drug lawyer Tony Serra (lost to later assassinated George Moscone) proposed eliminating all city taxes and fees, to be replaced by establishing Alcatraz Island as a “freedom” resort with unlimited sex, drugs, rock-n-roll - a disneyland for orgiasts. My membership card is probably stuck in a ZAP! comix edition on a back shelf. Ooh, it’s stained!
thank you
Virginia voter registration - OPEN-PRIMARIES | HOME - does not have any place for party affiliation at all. The last time I remember when Virginia had party-affiliated registration, sometime in the 1990s, I think I was down as independent. I guess whatever party you may have registered as back then was not grandfathered in, meaning all that data field got dropped from voter rolls, so a Virginian voter’s disaffiliation would be automatic, willy-nilly.