Thread by @pleasesaveour

Some primary info that some of you might not be aware of. As Republicans have left their party in droves over the last 5 years, they haven't all switched to Democrats. The majority have switched to Independent. What does this mean

In regards to primaries there are 3 types

Sorry, there are 5

Open: Anyone can vote in the primary
AL, MI, MT, VT, AR, MN, ND, VA, GA, MS, SC, WI
HI, MO, TX

Partially open: This system permits voters to cross party lines, but they must publicly declare their ballot choice
IL, OH, IN, TN, IA, WY
ncsl.org/research/elect…

Open to unaffiliated voters:
A number of states allow only unaffiliated voters to participate in any party primary they choose
AZ, ME, NJ, CO, MA, RI, KS, NH, WV

Closed: In general, a voter seeking to vote in a closed primary must first be a registered party member

And here lies the problem in these states. If you are a registered independent or any other party, you cannot vote in the 2 party primary

DE, MD, NY, FL, NV, OR, KY, NM, PA

Partially closed: Now this rings the alarms given the current state of politics:

State law permits political parties to choose whether to allow unaffiliated voters or voters not registered with the party to participate in their primaries. In this type of system, parties may let

in unaffiliated voters, while still excluding members of opposing parties. This system gives the parties more flexibility from year-to-year about which voters to include
CT, ID, OK, NC, SD, UT

So before you switch to an independant make sure your state will allow you to vote in the primary.

Some local and state party races are only in primaries. Did you know that?
ncsl.org/research/elect…