What makes someone a democrat or independent. I vote pretty much party line democrat now but way way back in the past when republicans were not complete nutters I would vote all sorts of ways.
It’s a self identification exit poll. It simply asks what party you identify with.
ah thanks.
So, about as worthwhile as a coin flip.
The only better information would be if a state released anonymized voting data by party.
Thanks guys! 😩
So what this really tells us is that Republicans are staying solid at 1/3 the voting population, and fewer people are identifying as Democrats.
I stopped registering as a Democrat before the 2016 election. I heard the MAGA language then and refused to put myself on a registered enemies list. I vote D, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to just put a sign over my head that says “sic the hounds on me” when the time comes. :/
Don’t kill me, but I actually registered as a Republican so I can vote in their primaries and other elections, and have a say in who gets elected instead of choosing the Democrat that will get voted out of my Republican state.
Of course, recently, I’ve always voted blue unless the Dem is a massive jerk for some reason. Registering as a Republican doesn’t stop me from doing that.
The fact that closed primaries are a thing is absolutely ridiculous.
In my state, independents can vote in any party’s primary. There’s basically no benefit in registering with a specific party.
It bears repeating: “unaffiliated” != “independent”. And that confusion is not helped by the fact that the media calls unaffiliated politicians “independent”, and that there’s ALSO an “American Independent Party” that you can register for.
On your registration, if your state has semi-open primaries, you need to pick “unaffiliated/no party”. You should NOT pick “Independent” (note the capital I), unless you specifically mean to.
If primaries are closed, the parties should pay their full cost.
Like self identified vegetarians increasing big mac sales
The independent share stood at 34% in the latest update of Edison’s exit poll, compared with 34% for Republicans and 32% for Democrats.
Speaking only for myself, but I’d wager this is pretty common: registered independent, but my voting pattern is consistently solid blue. Historically I mostly just don’t want to give the poll worker any reason treat me less-than-ethically due to not aligning with their party of choice. Now-a-days, I don’t want a D next to my name when the Nazis we just elected start making their lists of undesirables.
