Why do Americans register their party preference?

[Minstrel Boy]

Someone please help this Canadian understand the reasoning, or have I got it wrong? Can Americans choose to register as "undeclared"?

But why the question at all? Why isn't it enough to have a list of registered voters, and leave party preference out of it?

It just strikes me as a violation of the spirit of the secret ballot.

[Boomer]

1. I agree

An Italian friend of mine has been asking that very same question. She's appalled that our registration cards show party affiliation and considers it a gross violation of privacy.

[NMDemDist2]

2. states differ, you can add a party preference or go as Indy or

no party preferred

the main reason for party preference is to vote in primary elections

i was a registered Republican for years so I could vote in their primaries with the hope of getting the most moderate repub on the ticket, then would vote Dem in the general elections :evilgrin:

[crispini]

3. We don't track party preference here in Tx.

I prefer it that way. Makes nonpartisan voter reg very easy.

[Rjnerd]

7. Does Ohio ask party on its registration form?

This came up in the discussion of how we were doing with new sign ups, and I think Ohio was one of the "can't tell" states. Anyone want to confirm?

[sam sarrha]

4. That is o the Republicans can figure out how many votes to steal to win.

[Darranar]

5. Yes, people can register as independents...

the reason for it is for voting in the primaries.

[calico1]

6. I live in CT

and here you can register with the Party of your choice or register as "no Party affiliation" which is what I did. I have been wondering about all the election fraud and wondering why people, if they can, don't just register as "Independant" or "No Party Affiliation?" It would make it harder to commit voter fraud, don't you think? I agree that identifying ones Party is not a good idea. That should be private information.

[Minstrel Boy]

8. exactly my concern

Identifying voter preference likely makes disenfranchising or intimidating one party's voters a much simpler task.

[sangh0]

13. That's just one side

The other side is that it makes it easier for the party to identify and protect it's constituents. This year, the DNC and other groups are going to spend tens of millions of dollars protecting our vote.

[FloridaPat]

9. Only people in a particular party can vote in the primaries in most

states. In every state I've lived in you can register as an independent, which I have done my entire life. We independents can't have a say on who runs on the ticket.

[SheilaT]

10. What I want to know

is in the states that don't require party affiliation, does that mean no one has a party affiliation indicated? EVERYONE is unaffiliated?

I live in Kansas, where you must declare D, R, L(libertarian), or U(affiliated) on your registration. Closed primaries is the reason, meaning you vote in the primary of the party for which you are registered. So in my part of Kansas, lots of people who otherwise consider themselves Democrats register as Republicans so they can vote in the Republican primary, which is usually where the only action is.

I'm running for office. I know, as I go door-to-door, which voter is registered for what political party (or unaffiliated) inside of every house I go to. It's wonderful. I can already guess a number of things about the people based on age and party registration. I can also up front identify the real Democrats because they're registered that way, and let them know immediately I'm one also.

I expect going door-to-door would be very different if you never had any idea of the affiliation of the voter inside.

[Dzimbowicz]

11. In SC

There is no identification of party affiliation when registering.

[TahitiNut]

12. I've registered as "unaffiliated"/"no preference" for decades.

Once upon a time, most states (and the states I lived in at those times) required a person to be registered as affiliated with a party in order to vote in that party's primary. In my opinion, this is symptomatic of the corruption in our political process - marginalization of the voice of the People, corporatization of elections, and subordination of our individual electoral rights to a partisan duopoly.

We have an appalling tendancy to be blind to faults and failures in the party whose logo we wear and with which we identify. This is a recipe for entrenched and covert corruption. It also highlights one of the advantages of a parliamentary system like Canada's with a far broader array of ideological choices.

[Nimrod]

14. There is a psychological advantage

The ruling class likes to make us think we're all alone in our opinions and ideals. Being registered within a party helps satisfy the tribal urge we have as a species.