Political parties and political designations in Massachusetts

In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (a U.S. state), there are three recognized political parties and an additional 26 political designations in which registered voters may choose to enroll. Voters may also choose to remain as "unenrolled voters" (i.e., independents). Political parties hold primary elections, whole political designations do not. A political designation is a one-to-three word descriptive term which may appear next to candidates' names on election ballots. To be recognized as a political designation, fifty registered voters must file a document with the state seeking this status.

In Massachusetts, election ballots include the candidates' names followed by either the candidates' party or his or her "political designation"—a one-to-three word description that must be a other one-to-three word term whose recognition has been requested by fifty or more registered voters. In many cases, non-party designations include the word "party" in the designation. However, only three such designations actually correspond to organizations that are recognized by Massachusetts as political parties: the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, and the Libertarian Party.

In Massachusetts, registered voters may choose to (1) enroll in a political party; (2) enroll with a political designation; or (3) choose to be an unenrolled voter (i.e., an independent).

Voters may change their enrollment status with their election official, with a deadline twenty days before an election.

All registered voters may vote in general elections. Massachusetts voters enrolled in a particular party may vote only in that party's primary, and cannot cross-over to vote in another party's primary, but "unenrolled" voters may cast a primary ballot for one of the three parties. Political designations are treated as "unenrolled" voters for primary purposes, and so they too may choose to vote in one of the party primaries.

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