Political parties and political designations in Massachusetts facts for kids

In the state of Commonwealth of Massachusetts, people who want to vote can choose to join different political groups. These groups are called political parties or political designations. Voters can also choose to be "unenrolled voters," which means they are not part of any specific group.

Political parties are bigger groups that hold special elections called primary elections. In these primaries, they choose which candidates will represent them in the main election. Political designations are smaller groups. They do not hold primary elections. A political designation is usually a short name, like one to three words, that can appear next to a candidate's name on the ballot.

How Groups Become Official

To become a political designation in Massachusetts, at least 50 registered voters need to sign a document. They send this document to the state.

To become a full political party, a group needs more support. They must either:

• Get at least 3% of the votes for any statewide office in the last big election.
• Have at least 1% of all registered voters in the state join their group.

On election ballots, you will see candidates' names. Next to their name, it will say if they belong to a political party or a designation. Even if a group is a "designation" and not a full "party," its name might still include the word "party." As of 2023, only three groups are recognized as official political parties in Massachusetts: the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, and the Libertarian Party.

Joining a Group or Staying Independent

In Massachusetts, registered voters have three main choices for how they want to be listed:

• They can join a political party.
• They can join a political designation.
• They can choose to be an unenrolled voter. This means they are an independent voter and are not officially part of any party or designation.

Voters can change their choice by telling their local election office. They need to do this at least ten days before an election.

Everyone who is registered to vote can vote in the main elections. However, primary elections are a bit different. If you are officially part of a political party, you can only vote in that party's primary election. You cannot vote in another party's primary.

But if you are an "unenrolled" voter, you can choose to vote in any one of the party primaries. Voters who are part of a political designation are treated like "unenrolled" voters for primaries. This means they can also choose which party's primary they want to vote in.

Under Massachusetts law, a political designation starts when 50 registered voters fill out a form. They send this form to the Secretary of the Commonwealth. This form asks that they, or other voters, can change their registration to that designation. These non-party designations can have candidates run for statewide office. To do this, they need to collect a certain number of signatures, usually 10,000.

Most political designations have only a small number of members. However, they sometimes get attention from the news.

Current Parties and Designations

As of 2023, the Secretary of the Commonwealth listed three official political parties. There were also 30 official political designations in Massachusetts.

See also

• List of elections in Massachusetts
• Political party strength in Massachusetts