Do you have to vote in your own party during preliminary voting?

Question

I'm a little confused about preliminary voting, and I want to understand it better before they come this May. Thanks for your help in advance.

There are four different voting periods? I'm still a bit confused, in the mean time, thanks so far for your help. Oh and thanks for telling me about primary, I thought preliminary sounded wrong.

Answer 1

You're getting a lot of conflicting answers, and that's because it varies wildly from place to place.

If you live in the US, it depends on what state you live in. Some states have closed primaries, which means that you can only vote in the primary of the party who you have previously identified with when you registered.

Some states have open primaries, where you can vote in the primaries of both parties.

And some states have semi-open primaries, where you can choose which party's ballot you want when you show up to vote.

Answer 2

in the primaries you will declare your party at the polling place and then vote for the candidate that you want to get the nomination for your declared party.

i.e.: primary election democrat candidates are Micky Mouse, Charlie Brown, Spiderman, & Batman

primary election republican candidates are Donald Duck, Superman, Bugs Bunny & Bullwinkle

you first say i'm voting democrat (insert your party)
the poll workers will give you a democrat ballot
your democrat ballot will only have the democrats names on it (Micky Mouse, Charlie Brown, Spiderman and Batman)....you will pick which one you like the best and would like to see make a run for the presidency. the primary voting system is broken down by percentages. for example, if charlie brown received 75% of the democrat votes in the state and Batman got 25%, then that state sends (these numbers are made up) 3 delegates for charlie brown to the democrat convention and they send 1 delegate to for Batman to the convention.

Your primary vote helps to determine the number of state delegates sent to the convention for each candidate, similar in principle to the electoral college for the main presidential race. Once at the convention, those delegates are counted, and whatever candidate has the most delegates from all states combined becomes the parties nominee for a run at the presidency

this same principle applies to the republican party, i used the dems only to stay consistant in my explanation of what happens

Answer 3

If you are in the US, it is called Primary elections. You have to register to be eligible. You do not have to vote in the Primary. You do not have to vote in the General election. If you miss three votes in a row, you lose your eligibility to vote in the fourth election.

Answer 4

Yes. The primary is for each party to nominate their candidate. Each party has their own ballot. For information about your particular state, Google: your state, voters information guide

Answer 5

yes, but that person you vote for doesn't have to be the same person you vote for in the major election.

Answer 6

Can somebody call Bill Clinton to stop lying about Obama's stance on the immoral and "rash" Iraq war? Obama stood against this war from the beginning when it was political suicide to do so. Hillary Clinton who is a big war supporter and political plodder did not care about other women whose kids will be dying in a ill-conceived war. Please call Bill to shot his mouth now.

Answer 7

yes

Answer 8

sorry, you have to vote for republicans :)