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It may vary state by state, but we don't have to declare a party here. In primaries, you have to pick one at some point, but that is for obvious reasons.
The whole voter purging stuff is very very very very rare, and has much more to do with the equipment or corruption. Probably because of 2000, you think that is how it is, but for the VAST MAJORITY of Americans, you register, you get a card and a letter telling you where to vote, and you go vote. Most Americans who have trouble voting are either non-English speaking or new voters unfamiliar with the process. Florida wasn't stolen because of people being unable to vote, but because of stealing an election. I don't see how your system prevents that, given that it is even less transparent than ours.
Really - I think your registering with your government is basically the same thing as registering to vote, the registering is just done differently. "Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.
I don't see how your system prevents that, given that it is even less transparent than ours.
How is our system less transparent?
Alas, they introduced machine-voting in some constituencies for no good reason, it appears; there have been no reports of consistent vote-flipping in one direction so far. These days it has been tried before the Federal Constitutional Court. The case centres on the lack of transparency, visibility, participation; it is not without merits nor chances.
That's because Illinois has open primaries.
for the VAST MAJORITY of Americans, you register, you get a card and a letter telling you where to vote, and you go vote.
Not including in "the vast majority" are the following states where if you haven't declares a party affiliation you don't get to vote in the primary:
States, commonwealths, districts, and territories that have closed primaries[citation needed]: Arizona California (Republican closed, Democratic semi-closed) Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida [1] Kentucky Maryland Massachusetts (Semi-closed primary) Nebraska New Mexico New York North Carolina (Semi-closed primary) Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island (Semi-closed primary)[2] South Dakota Utah West Virginia
Care to expand on that? A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith
As for the last part, I say that based on what Fran has told me. Here, there are private citizens present at every step of the election.
Anyway, my aim is not to say one system is better than another, but to let you know how ours works at the micro level, and maybe why we decided to do it like we do. It's a DEEPLY FLAWED system we have, but I think for different reasons you think it is. I think it should be standardized, the same in every state, in every precinct. And I think it's obviously open to corruption. But I also think there are really wonderful aspect of it.
I mean, I did title this diary "Hell is Democracy".
:) "Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.
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