§ 21-A §144 — Change of enrollment

A voter may change the voter's enrollment after 3 months from the date on which the voter enrolled by filing an application with the registrar personally, by mail or by submitting an online voter registration application. When a voter files an application to change enrollment on the day of a primary election, the application is deemed received the following business day.
1.
Content of application.
The application must contain the following information: Name of applicant, the date of birth, residence address, name of party in which enrollment is requested, signature of the applicant and the date of application. If the voter submits an online voter registration application, the applicant must meet the requirements of section 152, subsection 1, paragraph K to satisfy the signature requirement of this subsection.
2.
Party designation removed.
On receipt of the application, the registrar shall remove the party designation of the applicant from the central voter registration system. The registrar shall indicate in the central voter registration system that the applicant is ineligible to vote at a caucus or primary election for 15 days by designating the party enrollment field with the letter "X." Fifteen days after receiving the application, the registrar shall enroll the applicant in the party requested and enter the new party designation in the party enrollment field.
3.
Restrictions during change of enrollment.
Except as provided in subsection 4, a voter may not vote at a caucus, convention or primary election for 15 days after filing an application to change enrollment. A voter may sign a primary nomination petition during the 15-day period after filing an application to change enrollment, and the voter’s signature must be counted as valid, as long as the 15-day period has elapsed by the time the petition is certified pursuant to section 335, subsection 7 and the voter otherwise is qualified to sign a petition for that office. Notwithstanding subsection 4, a voter must file an application to change enrollment prior to January 1st to be eligible to file a petition as a candidate in that election year.
4.
Change of residence.
When a voter changes residence from one municipality to another and establishes a new voting residence there, that voter may enroll in any party and vote at a caucus, convention or primary election, regardless of that voter's previous enrollment.
5.
Holidays.
If the 15th day before a primary election is a holiday, the registrar shall deem any change of enrollment submitted on the next business day to be received on the 15th day before the election for purposes of this section.

Legislative History

PL 1985, c. 161, §6 (NEW). PL 1993, c. 330, §1 (AMD). PL 1995, c. 459, §16 (AMD). PL 1997, c. 436, §31 (AMD). PL 2001, c. 310, §§7,8 (AMD). PL 2005, c. 453, §§26,27 (AMD). PL 2013, c. 131, §8 (AMD). PL 2013, c. 173, §§1, 2 (AMD). PL 2013, c. 457, §2 (AMD). PL 2017, c. 248, §§1, 2 (AMD). PL 2021, c. 439, §§7, 8 (AMD). PL 2021, c. 439, §15 (AFF). PL 2025, c. 397, §7 (AMD).