When I renewed my driver’s license recently I was asked, as is normal, if I wanted to register to vote. I was registered, of course, so I declined to re-register, but the next question made me stop and think: it was about my party affiliation, and whether it remained the same or wanted to change it.
As I have said since time immemorial, I have always registered as an independent, knowing that I was sacrificing any influence in the primaries to maintain whatever ideological independence I had.
And then the Democrats nominated Hillary, and then we got stuck with Donald Trump. I could no longer sit on the sidelines.
As my ideology has changed over the years to the point where I don’t know if I can ever in good conscience vote for a Republican ever again, I made the decision to formalize that.
I am now a registered member of the Democratic Party.
Who among you could have imagined that in 2001 when I started here? Or in 2003 when I (to my shame) supported the invasion of Iraq? Even my stance on gun rights has evolved, though it is far from what you might consider mainstream Democratic principles.
The simple fact is that I am not the person I was then, which has both good and bad points. Nevertheless, I am now a Democrat. It’s as weird to type that as it is to read that, I assure you.
Pennsylvania has what is called the Motor Voter Law, which is intended to make registering to vote easier by making it a part of the process of renewing your driver’s license. I believe most states do the same. You are not required to do so, but why wouldn’t you? The state only cares insofar as they send your notification to the party headquarters. It’s not like they don’t already know, they verify your identity and your eligibility to vote in the primary at the polling place.
For some reason the first thing that flashed through my head when I saw the thread title was something about having sex with a mime. That doesn’t seem like the kind of thing most people would talk about.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t Canada have a parliamentary system? That works a bit differently. In the U.S., there is no proportional representation, so a candidate’s party matters a bit less than his/her personality (At least, that’s how it USED to be). Party affiliation only means you can vote in that party’s primary election to select its candidates. The MAIN elections to select who will take office are conducted confidentially, and people can (and do) vote for whomever they want, even someone from the opposite party. So giving one’s party affiliation says nothing about who one might actually vote for. I think this has changed a bit in recent years, as national politics have become a lot more polarized. Candidates now are a lot less willing and able to say anything contrary to what their party supports. It seems like that’s a bigger problem for Republicans though.
In 2003, I supported the invasion of Iraq. The President of the United States said we needed to pre-emptively attack because he had proof that Iraq was actively working on WMD programs and was on the verge of producing them. I believed he was telling the truth.
Declaring party affiliation (or not) is a part of voter registration - it doesn’t really have anything to do with the DMV save for them relaying that info to the appropriate state agency. It’s just a convenience to do that while you’re there anyway.
As far as why the voting authority wants to know, many states restrict primary voting to members of that party. IE, you can only vote in the Republican primary if you’re a registered Republican.
I think Leaffan’s surprise is due to the fact that parties are not really part of the government approved system in Canada. If I want to be a part of deciding who is the local Liberal candidate, I can choose to call them up or go online and join the local riding association (Federal and Provincial are separate) for $10 or so. I can then vote at the local level, but this is not organized by the state. In some circumstances, the leader can pick a candidate without a local vote but this is usually done when time is short before an election.
Unless I have an election sign up or I choose to join a party, no one has any need to know which party I favour.
In most U.S. states, party registrations are in the public record. The DMV is simply providing a convenience: you can optionally register to vote or amend your registration if you wish to.
Since you’re Canadian you’re forgiven … but, with all the real corruption on display in the U.S., it’s often dismaying to hear what people actually complain about.
It’s public record since some states have closed primaries in which only members of the party can vote while other states have open primaries (members of any party can vote) and there are reasons for and against each system. Party affiliation doesn’t require you to vote any particular way, so despite’s Leaffan’s assertion, knowing my affiliation doesn’t mean the government knows who I vote for.
Speaking as a poster, I’d love if we didn’t have to go ten rounds about how bizarre and unthinkable some aspect of American society is. We’ve done it so many times, and man it’s tedious.
No criticism to Northern Piper at all, just a general observation.
It’s just that from our perspective, the government has no more right to know my party affiliation and keep a public record than, say, keeping a public record of what church, if any, I go to. Some things are none of the Government’s business.
I’I sorry if you find it tedious if non-American posters post their opinions of the US system, but I think that’s inevitable on a board with posters from around the world.
Please feel free to post as much as you like about the aspects of Canada’s political system that you may find odd or bizarre. I’ll try to respond.
We actually don’t have federal or national elections. What looks like a Presidential election is actually 51 simultaneous state-level elections for delegates to the Electoral College. All other offices and all referenda are state and local. Party membership has official status only in terms of choosing which primary elections to participate in. Even for Congress, party membership has no legal status, just a voluntary caucus membership.
They aren’t. Declaring a party affiliation only lets you vote in that party’s primary elections, in which its candidates are chosen for the general election, the “real” one. Even that’s not required in states with open primaries, where a voter can pick either party (but only one) to vote in. The motor vehicle department handles it in some states purely as a convenience, since they manage a big database already.
… but, with all the real corruption on display in the U.S., it’s often dismaying to hear what people actually complain about.
