Former Westford Director of Land Use Planning Angus Jennings became one of the United Independent Party’s first members as their lieutenant governor candidate in 2014.
Angus moved on, but as UIP became a major party in Massachusetts, several other Westford voters have joined the UIP well, although some were unaware that they did.
According to Westford Town Clerk Kaari Mai Tari, 80 Westford voters registered as members of the party at its peak, but 32 quickly changed their registration, assuming they were becoming what is known as an “unenrolled” voter, or a voter not registered with any party.
Mai Tari also indicated that this was an issue with registered voters who believed that being “unenrolled” meant they were not not enrolled as voters altogether.
“This is going to be very confusing for people at the polls,” she said.
The Massachusetts Presidential Primary is on March 1, and as a major party, the UIP will have a ballot available along with the other three parties recognized by the state: the Democratic Party, the Republican Party and the Rainbow-Green Party.
However, unlike the other three parties, the UIP is focusing solely on local and state candidates, with no presidential candidates appearing on its ballot. And unlike unenrolled voters, those registered with one of the four major parties cannot choose another party’s ballot at the polls.
Adding to the confusion are the Massachusetts Independent Party and the American Independent Party: two “party designations” voters may choose, or parties that have not yet obtained major party status in the state due to not reaching certain election result thresholds and do not have public primaries.
In Westford as of Feb. 10 at 12:30 p.m., two voters were registered with the Massachusetts Independent Party and two voters were registered with the American Independent Party while 48 were registered with the UIP.
In comparison, 10,249 of Westford’s 16,032 voters were registered as unenrolled, twice as much as all of the major parties and party designations combined.
UIP spokesperson Regan Cleminson says the issue stems in large part to recent budget reductions to the Secretary of State’s office.
Although Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin recently has sent a letter to voters registered with the UIP letting them know the difference between the UIP and unenrolled status, Cleminson says the UIP has been doing the same thing for the past six weeks.
“We’re not trying to pull the wool over anyone,” said Cleminson. “I think the key focus here should be greater efforts on voter education.”
Additional information on Westford’s elections can be found on the town clerk’s page of the town website.
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