2026-07-31 22:00 UTC
Replies (3)
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@bmoore123@tweesecake.social 2026-07-31 22:01
@lerven@tweesecake.social by primary ballot, you mean the votes in the general election or the party primaries. It totally seems reasonable that itf it is a party primary, only members of that party should get a vote.
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@bmoore123@tweesecake.social 2026-07-31 22:03
@lerven@tweesecake.social so when you vote for president every 4 years or your senate and house votes, you can vote for whoever you want. being registered only applies to the party primaries?
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@cwilcox808@c.im 2026-07-31 23:16
@lerven@tweesecake.social Right, party affiliation is irrelevant for general elections, anyone can vote for anyone on the ballot (or write in someone else). The importance of party affiliation varies a lot by state in primaries (and caucuses), how parties select which candidates to put forward in general elections. Open primaries are the most common (15 states), you don't need to be a party member to participate. But even open primary states there are variances, some don't let you choose the Republican candidate for Governor but the Democratic candidate for Senate. Some states' voter registration forms require the Party field to be filled out so if you don't want to be affiliated with any party "independent" could be what you write. New York's registration form has checkboxes for major parties in the state, and "Other" checkbox with a write-in field for additional parties, and a "No party" checkbox for people who don't want to associated with a party at all. https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/state-primary-election-types @bmoore123@tweesecake.social