Voting in the Primary (Unaffiliated Voters and Party Affiliations)
Facts about Party Affiliation and Primary Elections
New Jersey holds a “Closed Primary,” restricted to affiliated Democrats or Republicans exclusively. Therefore, you must either be registered as a Democrat or Republican in order to vote in New Jersey’s Primary Elections OR, as outlined below, you must affiliate (within the applicable deadlines) to either the Democrat or Republican party.
To explain further: As of January 1, 2006, the category of “Independent” voter has been eliminated. Any voter not affiliated with a political party or group is now classified as an “Unaffiliated” voter. Put simply, if this applies to you, your voting record has been changed from “Independent” to “Unaffiliated”.
As such, if you are an Unaffiliated voter and you wish to vote in the Primary Election, you must affiliate Democrat or Republican. You can do so by declaring your choice of party at the polls on Primary Election Day or during Early Voting.
Once you vote as a member of one of these parties in a primary election, you will then be considered a member of that political party. Should you decide to switch your party affiliation again in the future, you can do so by filing a political party declaration form with the municipal clerk or Commissioner of Registration. Forms are available via this link - Political Party Affiliation Declaration Form. You can also make this change online at New Jersey Voter Information Portal through an updated Voter Registration Form. If changing your current party affiliation, you must file one of these forms no later than 55 days before a Primary election to vote in your new party’s Primary election.
If you wish NOT to be affiliated with a political party, NJ law also allows you to become Unaffiliated at any time. Simply follow the steps above and check off the “Unaffiliated” option on the political party declaration form or check the box next to 'No, I do not wish to be affiliated with any political party', on the updated Voter Registration Form, prior to submitting to your Municipal Clerk or County Commissioner of Registration. There is no limitation to the length of time that you can remain registered as ‘Unaffiliated’.
For further information, please call 609.645.5882.