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It seems strange that a country like the USA that has anonymous voting has the government knowing if you are a member of a political party: " In many states, election officials disclose how many Democrats and Republicans have voted thus far. We don't know who they're voting for, but in most states, this alignment is a good proxy for the candidates."
Why is this considered acceptable in the US where distrust of the government is rampart (ie. no national government ID)?
It is important to note here that political parties in the U.S. are unlike political parties in most other countries.
An important point regarding your question is that there is a form of affiliation unlike being a dues-paying "member". This sort of affiliation is declared with the same institution where one registers to vote, possibly even in the same process. (Note: wikipedia says "in many states".) This is relevant as the primaries in the state may be organized by those that also organize the actual election, but primaries actually determine the candidate running under the respective party label and may be restricted to voters registered for (a) the respective party or (b) at least no other party.
I am also not sure whether this affiliation information is actually "public", but at least it is known to the election officials the same way it is known to them whether, for example, the voter lives in the north or south of the electoral district.
In some states only "registered" memebers can vote in primary elections.
Primary election select the only candidate from one party (Dem or Rep), which will face primary winner of the other party in General election. State primaries are not on the same date, but are staggered. traditionally, earliest primaries are Iowa (caucus) and New Hampshire (more traditional elections).
So i.e. in 2008, after McCain won Republican primaries by winning many early-voting states, many Republicans in Ohio re-registered as Democrats (Operation Chaos), to vote for Hillary Clinton, with goal to extend Dem's primaries and create bad blood, with the hope to make Obama's general elections more complicated. It worked other way around, forced him to build strong campaigns also is states with late primaries, contributing to his 2008 victory.
Other states have "open" primaries, where anyone can vote for any candidate (but only for one party, Rep or Dem). But primaries are independent between parties, and sometimes Rep and Dem primary elections are not even on the same day.
Party registration information is public, but not free. You have to pay to get it. Some organizations routinely do it, i.e. for fundraising. In 2004 primaries, private citizens ("Draft Clark" movement) in Iowa pooled money and got that info for democratic caucus, because they wanted to caucus for Clark, even if Clark'04 campaign itself skipped Iowa caucuses.
The U.S. is one of a few nations where there is a popular vote to elect candidates in political party primaries. In most other countries, party leaders vet the candidates.
Scholars differentiate primaries into several general categories: Closed, Semi-closed, Open, Semi-open, Blanket, Nonpartisan, Unified
However, even these broad categories cannot adequately explain the nuances that exist between primaries in the various states.
The U.S. Constitution originally only declared that no religious test could be applied to a holder of public office. Otherwise, voter qualification was entirely up to the states to decide. Over time, federal law and six Constitutional Amendments (14, 15, 19, 23, 24, and 26) addressed the right to vote. However, there remains broad discretion at the state level.
Political parties have exerted their power to control who votes in primaries, up to and including successful lawsuits. It is truly odd when the major political parties SUE for THEIR rights, but that is the current state of America today and for some time into the past.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_election
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_rights_in_the_United_States
Here is one idea - making this information public may discourage membership in stigmatized third parties. Who would want to be publicly known to be voting in Communist primaries?
