Andrew Yang is running for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 US presidential race on a platform that includes a flagship proposal of $1,000/month for every American citizen (funded by a VAT).

His campaign has attracted the attention, fascination and support of many, and has even managed to unite a growing number of Americans across party lines over actual policy substance. But since he is running as a Democrat, if non-Democrat (Republican, Independent, Green, unaffiliated, etc.) voters want to help him win the nomination, they should probably check their voter registration status, because they might need to make a change very soon.

TLDR: If you are looking for your state or territory’s specific Democratic voting rules, try searching this article for it by name (using Ctrl+F/Cmd+F or whatever search tool you prefer), or check out this chart. In any case, look into your own state or territory’s rules because they can change frequently.

Primary States

Most US states conduct standard primary elections for parties to elect their nominees, but political parties often try to set up barriers to prevent outsiders from influencing their process.

In the Democrats’ case, some states have totally open primaries while others have strict party affiliation and registration requirements.

In the following *states, voters must register as Democrats in advance in order to vote in the Democratic primaries (i.e. these are closed primary states):

• Arizona
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Florida
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maine
• New Hampshire
• New Mexico
• New York
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania

_{*If the state in which you vote is absent from the above list, that doesn’t necessarily make it an open primary state. Please read on.}

California might allow “No Party Preference” voters to vote in their Democratic primary (which is occuring much earlier than usual this time around, as Cali is now the largest of the 2020 “Super Tuesday” states), but whether or not voters affiliated with parties other than Democratic will also be allowed to vote remains unclear.

Massachusetts, Rhode Island and West Virginia will hold closed or semi-closed Democratic primaries that might allow unaffiliated voters to vote in them (but not Republicans, Greens or anyone else with affiliation outside the Democratic party).

Democratic primaries in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi and Tennessee are open to non-Democrats, but with certain conditions (which may include disclosure of previous party affiliation or an oath of party support in some form).

Maryland and New Jersey will hold closed or semi-closed Democratic primaries that might allow same-day party affiliation for unaffiliated voters, but non-Democrat affiliated (e.g. Republican, Green, etc.) voters will probably need to register as Democrat long before the elections.

States like Arkansas, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Vermont and Wisconsin have open Democratic primaries, so their non-Democrat voters probably won’t need to change anything in order to vote for Yang. Alabama has an effectively open primary as well, but might require Democratic party affiliation at the polling place.

Texas has been and is expected to remain open (possibly with conditions, such as a pledge of party support), however there is some indication that its Democratic primary might be closed in 2020 (so it’s best to check).

The North Carolina 2020 Democratic primary will either be semi-closed or open with certain conditions (which may include an oath of party support).

The 2020 South Dakota Democratic primary election will be open to registered Democrats and Independents/No Party Affiliation voters, but not Republicans.

Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho and Kansas are switching from caucuses to standard primaries, which might be closed. The state of Washington is also switching over to standard primaries and should be open to non-Democrat voters. Minnesota has previously operated closed Democratic caucuses, but will reportedly run an open Democratic primary in 2020. Nebraska and Utah (also formerly caucus states) will have closed Democratic primary elections but might allow same-day party affiliation.

Caucus States

The caucus states use a different nominating process than the standard primary states, but have similar rules related to party affiliation.

Important note: Caucuses are said to have benefited grassroots, “activist” oriented campaigns (similar to Yang 2020, albeit unprecedented in many ways) in the past. But there has been a pretty dramatic reduction of caucus states since 2016, which could give more traditional candidates (like Joe Biden) a slight advantage in 2020. This is one of many reasons to activate Yang supporters from across the spectrum in these Democratic elections, since (like Bernie Sanders) Yang has a substantially grassroots base.

The 2020 Iowa and Nevada Democratic caucuses will be closed, but might allow same-day party affiliation. North Dakota has no voter registration, so their caucus is effectively open but might require voters to sign an affidavit indicating their official party (if applicable). Wyoming will be a closed caucus (so Wyoming Yang Gang, make sure you’re properly registered in time and show up if you can!).

Other Territories

The District of Columbia (DC) will conduct a closed Democratic primary in 2020, but might allow previously unregistered voters to affiliate with their party on the day of the vote.

And did you know that if you vote in any of the following American territories, then you can likely vote for Yang in the primaries/caucuses (but not the general election)?

• American Samoa (caucus)
• Guam (caucus)
• North Mariana Islands
• Puerto Rico
• US Virgin Islands (caucus)

So if you are a US citizen from any of those territories who wants to secure the Freedom Dividend, check your registration status because you may also need to officially affiliate with the Democratic party in order to vote for Yang.

Moving Forward

Changing political parties is usually pretty easy, but it’s important to get it done before any key cut-off dates, and those can be difficult to know.

The DNC maintains a list of links to each state party on their website, which could be a good place to start when trying to find out how to get properly registered/affiliated in time.

The Republican party often also has specific voting requirements, which you may want to look into before switching over (if needed). But so far, no Republicans are offering anybody $1,000/month so maybe don’t waste too much time on it. (And more or less the same goes for other, smaller parties.)

Primary elections can get complicated, so if your goal is simply to get Yang elected, then your best strategy to help him secure the Democratic nomination would probably be to simply register as a Democrat ASAP, so you can definitely vote in your state or territory’s election. You can always change back after you vote for Yang, of course.

Also, many US states allow voters who are under 18 years of age to vote in primary elections and caucuses (often under the condition that they are going to turn 18 before the subsequent general election). Yang (understandably) has a lot of young supporters. So a lot of you younger Yangsters might have a chance to vote for him before you turn 18.

And if you’re an American citizen who for some reason can’t actually vote for Yang, you can still help him win the nomination by donating (every donation and every donor counts, no matter how small the contribution). Yang needs those donations (as well as poll numbers and other support) to help propel him through the debates.

Please share/resteem this and please secure that bag! #MATH #YangGang