Who you vote for is private. But the choice of which primary you vote in is not private. As a poll worker, I see in real time who is voting in the Republican, Democratic, or Nonpartisan primary races. Of course this inevitably leads to making guesses. I wonder which party this guy is in? My fellow pollworker and I started developing guidelines.
Disclaimer in advance: This is all ludicrous. It’s blatant stereotyping. Although some people were blindingly obvious, we probably only guessed 60% right. Georgia has open primaries (you can vote in any primary, so people sometimes cross parties to mess with the other team) which undercuts this whole thing. And this is just one random location in a highly Democratic suburb (base rate was roughly two thirds Democrat, one third Republican).
Still, stereotypes usually arise from some core truth. And it’s some fun in a long draining day. Here we go! (Images from AI.)
How to spot a Democrat:
- Handmade jewelry. Made individually by humans. Bonus if it’s in the style of Native Americans or South Americans. Bonus points for colored stones.
- Flowing dresses
- Flaming gay men (youngish, in shape, tight shirts, dyed hair)
- African (not African American, Africans from Africa)
- Generally less put together – don’t care as much how they look
How to spot a Republican:
- Women with blond-dyed hair, dyed fairly recently
- Boating clothes (the right kinds of shorts or shirts)
- Structural dresses
- Kitty heels. I don’t know what these are, but my partner assures me it’s dead on.
- Clothes with African animal patterns: Leopard, Zebra, Cheetah
- Generally more put together – more care put into personal appearance
Non-predictors: In some ways, this was the most interesting list. What stereotypes didn’t stand up to testing?
- Golfing wear was not a predictor.
- T-shirts were not a predictor.
- Initially it seemed like the jerks who barely look at you were Republican, but then there was a string of obnoxious Democrats. Maybe they were DEI jerks.
This list will evolve in the Georgia runoff next month.