5mo ago

Registered Republican, how about that...

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Technical question: I don't get what that registration is. Was he a member of the party?
Is it just the registration to be eligble to vote and if yes, how the fluff does it contain info on the party? Doesn't the US have secrecy of the ballot?
- In most states, only party members can vote in their party’s primary elections.
  Primary elections are held before the general election to pick the party’s candidates for the general.
  
  In most states, only party members can vote in their party’s primary elections.
  Minor point of clarification:
  Pennsylvania is one of only 14 states with closed primaries
  
  Maybe he wanted to vote against Trump several times: both in the primary and main
  
  If I remember right, Haley was already out of the PA primary.
  
  I don't know, it's just an urge to interfere with the US politics in any way
  
  That's kind of true, but it depends. Most states don't have laws requiring closed primaries and allows the party to choose which voters to include. However, in general the Republican party tends to have closed primaries when possible.
  They are closed in Pennsylvania, though.
  https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/state-primary-election-types
- I haven't seen this mentioned yet, but you're required to register a party affiliation before you can vote in the primaries. As a liberal, I've considered registering Republican in situations where the Democratic nominee has pretty much been decided and I want to give a boost to less polarizing Republican candidates. Pennsylvania is one such state that uses the closed party system (you need to be Republican to vote in Republican primaries). I've since moved to a state that allows "Independent party" members to choose the primary they wish to vote in.
  Not saying this explains the shooter's party affiliation, we still need to wait on all the details. Just something to keep in mind so we don't jump to conclusions.
  
  That varies state to state. Some states (like Texas) have open primaries where you just choose at the voting station which ballot you want. Others (like Pennsylvania) have closed primaries where you have to be registered as a member of the party to vote in the primary.
- You generally need to register with a party to participate in party primaries.
  Some states allow you to do it day of, some require large lead times.

58 comments