Register Republican ESPECIALLY if you’re NOT one.

Photo by Tiffany Tertipes on Unsplash

Our two-party voting system centers around General elections where we choose between the winner of Republican and Democratic Primaries.

Here’s the thing… we each get two votes: Primary and General.

I think we can bring about real change by using them more strategically; by changing how we play the game; by voting down instead of up occasionally.

The Primaries

Primary election rules vary but for roughly 1/3 of states you must be a registered member of the party prior to election day. Another 1/3 allow independents to vote in a party primary. The rest allow you to choose a specific Primary regardless of your registered party affiliation.

Thanks to Primary election rules, most voters register with the party they identify most with.

Conservatives register Republican. Liberals register Democrat. Independents in most states can float but in closed states essentially let the R’s and D’s present them with two choices they had no input into whatsoever. (If you’re an Independent in a closed-primary state you’re throwing away a key choice.)

We’ve been doing it this way for a long time because it “feels right”.