# Republicans destroying Democraat voter registrations?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [October 13, 2004, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971 "2004-10-13T06:07:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 8

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**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\
**Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/141 "2004-10-22T18:58:28Z")

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Several of the people under investigation for fraud, whom the Republican party snapped up to hire to run Ohio right after they had resigned, have now been indicted.

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**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/142 "2004-10-23T05:49:01Z")

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Sorry, I don’t have a cite, but when I was at the bus station in Missouri, yesterday (I think it was yesterday 2426 miles in 3.5 days isn’t good on the old noggin’), there was a newspaper article in one of the local papers discussing what on the surface looked like what could be someone trying to tamper with the voting rolls, but was most likely, in all reality, a new form of gaining information for identity theft.

Also heard on the radio tonight that someone’s investigation had uncovered that something like 70,000 Floridians had crossed state lines and registered in other states as well as Florida. No idea if those individuals had any specific party affiliation.

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**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/143 "2004-10-23T14:43:15Z")

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> [@Princhester](#):
>
> Why the freakin’ hell should there be any need at all to say what party affiliation you may have on a registration form? What the hell? Is there any rational reason behind this _at all_?

Yes. It doesn’t matter in the general election, but it does in the primaries that are used to select the parties’ candidates. The primaries are run by the state governments on behalf of the major parties, and a few minor ones, but that’s just for convenience. The parties have the ultimate say in who their candidates are and how they’re selected; usually they have the issue decided by popular vote among those who have registered as members of the party, as that’s the most democratic way.

There is certainly a rational reason for the practice - to prevent the other party’s voters from picking your own party’s candidates. The rules vary by state, though - some allow crossover voting.

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