2026-07-31 23:16 UTC
@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
Replies (2)
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@bmoore123@tweesecake.social 2026-07-31 23:21
@cwilcox808@c.im this is really helpful. thanks. @lerven@tweesecake.social
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@bmoore123@tweesecake.social 2026-07-31 23:25
@cwilcox808@c.im wow, this is much more complex than I thought but that link is a good primer. now going to go down a rabbit hole. @lerven@tweesecake.social