Hey, beyond apathy, as an outsider, I want to point out the fact that voter registration seems extra complicated in the US, and designed to prevent people from voting. Coupled with voter roll purges, and other measures, it requires extra determination to vote. When I learned how it’s done in the US, I was horrified. Some people have to go through a lot just to vote.
Where I live we’re all automatically registered. It’s the election bureau that makes all the work from what the government already knows about us. We get a card in the mail every election telling us we’re registered. That’s it. We can also register directly at the polls super easily. AFAIK voter fraud is nonexistent.
Funnily enough, it wasn’t complicated at all for me to register to vote in the state of North Carolina. I’ll never forget it.
I turned 18, I went down to the DMV to get my motorcycle permit along with updating my teen provisional license for an adult license. I passed the simple little tests, the DMV worker asked me height, weight, eye color, hair color, address. At the time, NC licenses could have one of several state themed backgrounds; the silhouette of the state, the state seal, the Hatteras lighthouse, the Wright flyer, I picked the plane. Want to be an organ donor? Sure. And the next thing she said to me is seared into my brain:
“Okay, we’ll just register you for Selective Service…Would you like to register to vote?”
So here’s what you do to register to vote in the state of North Carolina. When a woman in a weird half-cop uniform working at the DMV asks you if you wanna, you say “Y-Yeah.” and “Which party?” Say “Uhh. Independent?”
I’ve voted in every election, maybe not every primary but every election, since that day.
In many (most? all?) states, you only get to vote in the primary for your registered party, while independent gets a selection. This is likely intended to avoid a spoiler vote, where a democrat might vote in the republican party for the most abhorrent choice – though I think this is the kind of thing that can backfire and get us a Trump presidency.
Hey, beyond apathy, as an outsider, I want to point out the fact that voter registration seems extra complicated in the US, and designed to prevent people from voting. Coupled with voter roll purges, and other measures, it requires extra determination to vote. When I learned how it’s done in the US, I was horrified. Some people have to go through a lot just to vote.
Where I live we’re all automatically registered. It’s the election bureau that makes all the work from what the government already knows about us. We get a card in the mail every election telling us we’re registered. That’s it. We can also register directly at the polls super easily. AFAIK voter fraud is nonexistent.
Funnily enough, it wasn’t complicated at all for me to register to vote in the state of North Carolina. I’ll never forget it.
I turned 18, I went down to the DMV to get my motorcycle permit along with updating my teen provisional license for an adult license. I passed the simple little tests, the DMV worker asked me height, weight, eye color, hair color, address. At the time, NC licenses could have one of several state themed backgrounds; the silhouette of the state, the state seal, the Hatteras lighthouse, the Wright flyer, I picked the plane. Want to be an organ donor? Sure. And the next thing she said to me is seared into my brain:
“Okay, we’ll just register you for Selective Service…Would you like to register to vote?”
So here’s what you do to register to vote in the state of North Carolina. When a woman in a weird half-cop uniform working at the DMV asks you if you wanna, you say “Y-Yeah.” and “Which party?” Say “Uhh. Independent?”
I’ve voted in every election, maybe not every primary but every election, since that day.
Why is there a party affiliation at registering?
Primaries.
In many (most? all?) states, you only get to vote in the primary for your registered party, while independent gets a selection. This is likely intended to avoid a spoiler vote, where a democrat might vote in the republican party for the most abhorrent choice – though I think this is the kind of thing that can backfire and get us a Trump presidency.