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I just realiced that I don´t completly understand the US presidential election system. In Spain you can be a Socialist Party member but at election day you can choose any party you want without revealing your vote. I thought that in the US was the same but the registred voter thing confuses me with people in some states sabotaging the vote of the oponent registered voters and such, so I wanted to know whats the deal for the US guys, how do you vote? if I´m a registered Republican do I have to vote Republican even if I dissagree with the candidates? If I´m a registered Democrat do I have to make public my vote to the officials? If so, how do people manage to punish an unworthy candidate without leaving the party that represents you the best?

M.

Anyone can vote any way they like. Registration means nothing, overall.

Miguelsan wrote:I just realiced that I don´t completly understand the US presidential election system. In Spain you can be a Socialist Party member but at election day you can choose any party you want without revealing your vote. I thought that in the US was the same but the registred voter thing confuses me with people in some states sabotaging the vote of the oponent registered voters and such, so I wanted to know whats the deal for the US guys, how do you vote? if I´m a registered Republican do I have to vote Republican even if I dissagree with the candidates? If I´m a registered Democrat do I have to make public my vote to the officials? If so, how do people manage to punish an unworthy candidate without leaving the party that represents you the best?

M.

You can be registered with what party you want to be affiliated with. Your vote is for which ever party you want to vote for. If you don't agree with any party's candidate then you can even write in a candidate. There is no disclosure of who you vote for. Your vote is a private thing. If you CHOOSE to tell someone else then that's your right.

I'm a registered Republican but actual view myself as a Independent Conservative...but that is because I wanted to make sure the Republican party could count me as one of theirs. The Republican party is more in line with my personal views. So I tend to vote Republican. My parents and Grandparents are/were Southern Democrats (what we would call Regan Democrats now days) who vote Republican. Your party affiliation is just a way for pollsters to bean count you. Your vote is your own personal choice.

BTW, where in Japan are you living?

AoS

I thought so but reading the news I was starting to get the idea that somehow affiliation meant "have to vote for". That´s what I get for believing the newspapers over common sense, shame on me!

M.

AoS: I live at Kobe peding that I find a couple hundred millions and go away to my own planet. Perhaps I should made a card that said "Bank of Myself" or "MyselfMotors" and go to DC to request a bailout

A big thing to remember about the US is that there is really no national ID card/tracking system. You got a Social Security # at birth, and you have to register for the draft at 18 if you're male, but after that you can live off the grid if you'd like. Because of that, you have to register to vote whenver you move, so you can be on the rolls for all of the elections that affect your location. Registering to vote basically just lets the government know who you are, where you live, and that you want to be able to vote.

Keep in mind that nearly ever american has four different governmental layers to vote for:
Federal (president, a congressman and two senators)
State (governer, a state rep and a state senator)
Local (Mayor, city council)
School district (school board members)

Most americans have counties (executive, sheriff, other officers), while others have joint city/county units. Other areas have seperate water supplies, or sewage districts.

What this means is that every time any election changes, there needs to be a new ballot and a new polling place. All counties are in only one state, but some cities are in multiple counties, some school districts overlap cities (two districts in one city, or one district serving two cities), Federal/State congressional and state senate districts can be drawn literally down to the street through a city, etc. Because of this, it's nice to know how many ballots and poll workers to assign to each polling place, because a voter can't simply go to another one most of the time.

Kobe, beautiful place to visit. I lived in Aomori Prefecture for 8 years. I've also been to Tokyo a few times and down to Okinawa as well. I love being in Japan...as a matter of fact I was in Tokyo (actually Fussa City) about two months ago. On my down time I went into Tokyo proper and bummed around Shibuya and Shinjiku.

only thing party affiliation does is in certain states, you may only vote in your parties primaries, wereas other states dont care.

It can get really confusing if you're trying to follow the polls, because some pollsters use self-identified Republicans and Democrats, while others use registered Democrats and Republicans. They often don't bother to say which one they're using, and the difference is massive.

Zogby is supposed to be the most reliable.

Polls can be pretty inaccurate though. A lot of people say they will vote one way but change once they are in the polling booth.