Why do you have to registry for a certain party to vote in primaries. Isn't this unfair emphasis on 2 parties?
350264
It's actually fair. Let's say all the third party voters were allowed to vote in one of the primaries. They would vote for the absolute worst choice, so they could put him (or her) against their own candidate.\nAlso, the purpose of the primary for that party to choose who is going to represent them. If you aren't in the party, why should you have a say in who's going to represent it?
403092
You have to get on the ballot on a state-by-state basis.  You either have to get a party's nomination (it has to be a party that has ballot access in that state), or you have register as an independent, which requires a certain number of registered signatures.  You can also run as a write-in candidate by simply registering with the state's secretary.
679971
There is a lot of middle ground - they're just not as loud.  There are moderate Republicans and Democrats, as well as a larger number of independents than most people realize.   If there were no middle ground, there would be no swing voters and never any change in power.\n\nBut I do agree that there is a great deal of stubbornness with those who do wholly identify with a party.  The concept that "This person is a Republican, I'm a Republican, they must be right and good!" (also true with Democrats) exists far too often.  It also doesn't help that many people don't really educate themselves to more than a handful of issues and don't bother researching candidates.  As a result, it isn't as much about picking the best candidate as it is about electing someone from your party (and consequently gloating or complaining about it, depending on the winner).  Who cares if they're working for my best interests?  WE WON!!!  Of course, candidates and the media know this and help to push it along, concentrating more on image and hot-button issues than an overall set of policies.  \n\nFinally, the electoral college "winner take all" system lends itself heavily to a 2-party system, meaning there's not much room for the middle ground.  The middle ground is actually usually swallowed up by the 2 parties and labeled as moderates on both sides.  This also means that every issue is divided into an A or B category, and pretty much forces someone to either agree with their party or simply become apathetic towards the issue.
432009
The party which is supporting said candidate is able to choose another candidate in his place.
651304
It depends on what type of primary your state has.  If it is an open primary you can vote for either party (you have to pick one, though) without declaring affiliation, and if it is a closed primary you can vote for either party, but you have to declare affiliation with the party that you pick.  In the general election you can vote for whomever you please, as all available candidates will appear on the ballot.
770167
That shouldn't be the case, unless you accidentally selected to vote party-line.  It doesn't matter what party you are registered under, you can vote for any party (at least in the general election).  I'd be a little more careful next time or ask questions.
416186
1st party is you and your company.\n3rd party is another company you are dealing with or the public
103033
Sorry. One person, one vote. You can vote in the state that is your primary residence.
933191
This is a really good question. The answer is "Yes & No."\n\nWhen running in the Primaries, yes, a number of candidates (like Richard Gephardt and others) were on the ballot for the party's nomination for President as well as for another seat (in Gephardt's case, a seat in the House).\n\nAfter the party nominates a person for the presidency, that person can still, technically be on the ballot for another office; but it would be political suicide for him/her to do it, because it would send the voters the message, that the person didn't fancy his/her chances of being elected to the presidency, and was looking for a back-up job.\n\nSo while technically possible, it's not politically possible.\nAnd if the unthinkable happened, and a person won two jobs (say, Senator, and President) the person would have to choose to give up one, because the Constitution forbids anyone from holding more than one federal office at a time.
328162
It would be nice, but no. These two parties are too powerful and have too much money for a third party to compete. They will try, as they have in the past, but they won't succeed. I don't like to believe that any vote is "wasted" but I do believe that voting for the third party just increases the chances of getting someone like Bush in office again. I find it apalling that anyone could still support this man or the Republican party after all they have done to damage our country.\n\nI have voted for a third party in the past, but as I've grown older I realize that it just did more damage than good, so I will remain a democrat. The only way I would vote for a 3rd party again would be if I saw (through the polls) that the person running clearly had a chance, and if they ran on a platform I could really support.\n\nBut don't ever not vote. Don't ever believe that your vote doesn't count. We have a responsibility to vote for the person we believe should be in office, even if you do vote for a third party candidate.
772816
OK civics 101. Primaries are elections that determine who will have a party's nomination. If 5 dems are running for governor, there is a primary where the dems vote for who they want. That person gets the nomination. If there are 5 reps running for governor, there is a primary where the reps vote for who they want. That person gets the nomination. Independents are not allowed to vote in primaries except for judges and amendments/propositions/referendums. \n\nIn the general election TOMORROW. everyone votes for who they want regardless of party. If elections were won because people HAD to vote their party affiliation, then what would be the point of general elections?
261402
Primary elections are mostly an American phenomenon.  For the most part, they are managed by each state political party.  The dominant Democratic and Republican party in each state, because of their usual involvement in legislative government, generally allow the use of balloting equipment and workers that is normally reserved for a general election.\n\nEach state party defines and enforces the primary rules for voting.  There are several different forms of primaries that each state can choose.  These include:\n\nOpen - Voters may vote in primaries of a party of their choice, the choice to be made at the voting booth.\n\nClosed - Voters may only vote in a primary if they are registered members of that party.\n\nSemi-open - Voters registered with a party may only vote in the primary of their party. Independents may choose which primary to vote in at the voting booth. For example, in West Virginia, Republican primaries are open to independents, but Democratic primaries are closed.\n\nRun-off - If no candidate receives a majority (50%) the top two candidates may face off in a run-off election. The word "run-off" can refer to either the system using a run-off election, or to the subsequential second election itself.\n\nPrimary elections generally get more attention during a Presidential election.  Many have criticized the traditional approach of early primary elections in Iowa and New Hampshire for defining party front-runners.  An alternative plan known as the Graduated Random Presidential Primary System (also known as the California Plan or American Plan) is designed to begin with presidential primaries in small-population states, where candidates do not need tens of millions of dollars in order to compete, and grow progressively larger and more challenging as the nominating process advances. A wide field of presidential hopefuls will be competitive in the early going. A "minor candidate's" surprise successes in the early rounds, based more on the merit of the message than on massive amounts of money, will tend to attract money from larger numbers of small contributors for the campaign to spend in later rounds of primaries. Thus there should be more longevity of candidacy, and more credible challengers to the "front-runners." However, as the campaign proceeds, the aggregate value of contested states becomes successively larger, requiring the expenditure of larger amounts of money in order to campaign effectively. A gradual weeding-out process occurs, as less-successful candidates drop out of the race. The goal is for the process to produce a clear winner in the end, but only after all voices have had a chance to be heard.
292320
Do you mean registering to vote?   Electoral Votes are established for each state, not based on registration. I believe.
701835
Sometimes because of late changes or because they have not obtained the proper number of petition signatures, a candidate's name may not appear on the ballot.  Generally Democrats and Republicans are listed as well as often Green, Libertarian parties etc.  The term "write-in" refers to the candidate not appearing on the ballot so the person voting must specify who they are voting for himself.
824557
You shouldn't be represented by a "party".  You should be represented by a person.  \n\nAs you look around the political landscape, you'll see examples of liberal Republicans, like Olympia Snow or Arlen Spector, conservative Democrats, like Zell Miller and Bob Casey, and moderates from both sides, like Joe Lieberman or John McCain.\n\nAll are popular with their constituencies, I'd guess more because of their positions than their party affiliation.  As it should be...right?
255720
because it simplifies the process.  We rarely get to know the two candidates ( actually there are more party affiliations) so we vote more on the group they represent.  It would be wise for us to pay more attention to the other options available: Libertarian, Independent, etc.  However, many of them do not even present a united standard.
997505
I personally am opposed to the idea of voting for the other guy just because I don't like his opponent.  If you don't truly believe in the candidate you are voting for, find another one.  As much as people don't think much of third party candidates, I feel that if people voted for a candidate that they believed in instead of "you have to vote for one the two main parties or you through your vote away" we would have a much different country today.