Can a registered Democrat vote Republican in Indiana’s primary? Can someone vote in both party primaries, for different offices?
Those are questions from listeners that came in after a political centrist group put up billboards encouraging Democrats to vote in the Republican primary this year.
Indiana is one of about two dozen states that does not register people by political party. There are no registered Democrats, Republicans or anything else.
That means Indiana has what are called open primaries — any registered voter can choose a Democratic or Republican ballot. State law does say that primary voters must have voted in the last general election for “a majority of the regular nominees of the political party” whose ballot they chose, or intend to do so in the next general election. But there’s no way to check that, making it virtually impossible to enforce.
READ MORE: Indiana’s 2024 primary is May 7. What do I need on Election Day?
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You can’t vote for different parties in the same primary election — if you choose a Republican ballot, you’ll only have access to GOP candidates, and the same for Democrats.
There is a nonpartisan option in Indiana primaries. If there are any public questions on the primary ballot, like school referendums, you can choose to only vote on those.
Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.