So, I Changed My Voter Registration Today, I'm No Longer A Registered Democrat

[JimGinPA]

I moved from Pennsylvania to Illinois and today when I went to get my driver's license I also registered to vote. They don't have registration by party here, which kind of bums me out. I had been a registered Democrat since I was 18.

[lillypaddle]

1. Well, your heart

is obviously a democrat.

[femmocrat]

2. That would cause me some distress too.

At first, I thought maybe you became an independent. ( I don't know if PA registers independents?) But I didn't remember that you had moved to IL. Would you be able to vote in repub. primaries?

[JimGinPA]

3. Yeah, My Sister Said They Ask Which Party In Primaries...

And you get either one or the other.

[vlyons]

4. When you vote in the primary

They will ask if you want a Dem or a Rep ballot. Once you vote in the primary, you will officially be a Dem for the next general election.

[frazzled]

5. Your party primary vote determines your party affiliation, more or less

Illinois has open primaries. At your polling place, you request either a Republican or Democratic ballot for all primary elections (federal, state, county, and local). If you want to meddle in a Republican primary, you're going to get considered to be a Republican, and you will get all the R phone calls and junk mail, etc.

That's why I wonder how people here say they're getting calls from Republican candidates. That's never happened to me, because I've always voted Democratic ballots in primaries. That's where candidates get their contact lists from: previous primary voting records.

So it doesn't really matter if you're "registered" as a Democrat in Illinois. If you vote in Democratic primaries, you're a Democrat for all intents and purposes. And you'll be contacted by Democratic officials and candidates.

[JimGinPA]

7. Thanks, My Sister Didn't Explain It That Well

[Demsrule86]

6. You can still be a registered Democrat...you register with the national party...I do it.

[longship]

8. Many states do not have party registration.

Those would be the open primary states because if there isn't party registration the state cannot have a closed primary.

That is why we ought to have open primaries everywhere. Let everybody vote!