Can someone explain this to me as a non-American: why do people register to vote as a particular party? I thought you’d just register to vote, then vote for a particular party at the election (and that ballot is secret, so nobody can say for sure who you voted for)?
Many states have closed primary elections prior to the general election. So three or four candidates from the same party are campaigning against each other for the right to be the candidate in the general election, and the only people that can vote in this preliminary election are registered party members.
Can someone explain this to me as a non-American: why do people register to vote as a particular party? I thought you’d just register to vote, then vote for a particular party at the election (and that ballot is secret, so nobody can say for sure who you voted for)?
Many states have closed primary elections prior to the general election. So three or four candidates from the same party are campaigning against each other for the right to be the candidate in the general election, and the only people that can vote in this preliminary election are registered party members.
Ah I see, so “registered Republican” is similar to “Conservative party member” here. Thanks, that always confused me.