Party Change Voter Registration Deadline Dec 31st

December 31st, 2011 is the date by which you must be registered to vote as a member of the political party whose primary election you want to vote in in 2012.

Stick with us on this, it's a little complicated.

Independents and Democrats will not be able to vote in partisan Republican primaries on May 22nd, 2012.  Likewise, Independents and Republicans will not be able to vote in partisan Democratic primaries.

So even though the election isn't until May of 2012, and we won't even have a full list of people running for office until January 31st, everyone who's registered in Kentucky now will need to nail down their political party be the end of this month. 

What's worse is that if someone waits until after the deadline to try to change their party, they can lose the right to vote in their current party's primary too. 

For example, if someone is registered as a Democrat now and decides in March of 2012 that they like some of the Republican candidates running.  If they try to change their party then, they will not only fail to be registered as a Republican for the primary, they will also forfeit their right to vote in Democratic primary. 

Note that people who are registered as part of a third party (Greens, Libertarians, etc.) are effectively in the same category as registered independents in that they will not be able to vote in partisan primary elections unless they change their registration by December 31st.

Note also that none of this applies to people who are not currently registered in Kentucky.  They can pick any party they want to if they register by April 23rd, 2012 and vote in that party's primary.  

To check what party you are currently registered as, visit https://cdcbp.ky.gov/VICWeb/index.jsp

If you wish to change your political party affiliation so that you can vote in partisan primaries, visit your local County Clerk by the end of their business day on December 30th - http://www.elect.ky.gov/countyclerks.htm

You can also print out and mail in a voter registration card by finding the file online at http://www.elect.ky.gov/register.htm and get it postmarked by Dec 31st. 

We recognize that some people might have good reasons to want to remain registered as an Independent or as a member of a third party for this primary and that they might feel that sends a message that is worth fore-fitting their right to vote in the primary.  What KFTC is trying to do is to make the space for people to understand their choices and to make an informed one before the deadline.