Important Information About This Primary Election and Decline-to-State Voters (Voters Not Affiliated With a Political Party)


A “decline-to-state” voter is any registered voter who chose to not affiliate with a political party when he or she registered to vote (also sometimes referred to as a nonpartisan or DTS voter).

If you are registered to vote with a political party, you may only vote in this statewide direct primary election for ballot measures and the candidates running for office from the party with which you are registered.

Primary elections are held to determine which nominee in each political party will represent the party in each race in the general election. The winning candidate from each party in the June 3, 2008, primary will move on to the November 4, 2008, General Election and all voters, regardless of their political party registration, will be allowed to vote for any candidate on that ballot.

If you did not select a political party when you registered to vote, some of the political parties will still allow you to vote for their candidates. If you are not registered with a political party, you can request a ballot of any political party that has notified the Secretary of State that it will permit decline-to-state registered voters to help nominate their candidates. You may NOT request more than one party’s ballot.

The following political parties are allowing decline-to-state voters to request and vote their party’s ballot (with the exception of county central committee candidates) in the June 3, 2008, Statewide Direct Primary Election:

If you do not request a specific ballot, you will be given a nonpartisan ballot containing only ballot measures and the names of candidates for nonpartisan offices.

If You Vote by Mail . . . Each county elections office is required to mail all decline-to-state voters who are registered as permanent vote-by-mail voters a notice and application regarding voting in the primary election. The notice shall inform the voter that he or she may request a vote-by-mail ballot for a particular political party for the primary election if that party authorized decline-to-state voters to vote in their primary. If you are a vote-by-mail voter and you would like to participate in one of the participating parties’ primary, you must request the party’s ballot prior to being issued a vote-by-mail ballot. If you have already been issued a nonpartisan ballot but would like to request a ballot from one of the participating parties, you must contact your county elections office.




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