Party Identification in Wisconsin?

Over the past few years, we’ve had plenty of discussion in Wisconsin about how we should vote – should we require photo ID?  Should we use electronic voting machines?  Allow early voting?  And despite all this discussion, it seems difficult to change anything, as these laws are so ingrained in our tradition.

But with all of this information floating around, it’s easy to lose track of the fact that there are other states out there that have completely different voting systems.  A friend of mine pointed out this website from North Carolina, where you actually have to declare yourself a member of a party.  You can go to that website, search for any registered voter in North Carolina, and you’ll get their name, address, how often they vote, and what party they belong to.

Naturally, there are plenty of states that require voters to register with a political party.  But can you imagine the heads exploding in Wisconsin if the state proposed to make voters’ party preferences public?  There’d be a riot.  Wisconsin is, after all a state where lawmakers even object to having individuals’ criminal records posted online.  It seems that in our state, people are more reticent about disclosing something as private as their party identification.  (And if you’re a Republican living in Madison, or Democrat living in Waukesha County, keeping your party preference on the DL may be mere survival.)

So let’s take this thing for a spin.  Think of famous North Carolinians:

It appears Ralph Dale Earnhart, Jr. is a REPUBLICAN.

Not surprisingly, John and Elizabeth Edwards are DEMOCRATS.

Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue cover model Brooklyn Decker is a REPUBLICAN.

There are too many Michael Jordans to know which one is the real one.

Julius Peppers of the Carolina Panthers is a DEMOCRAT.

Anyway, you get the idea.  Feel free to go look up your favorite North Carolinian.