Skip to content
Donald Trump Claims Falsely That Democrats Could Vote in the New Hampshire GOP Primary
Go to my account

Donald Trump Claims Falsely That Democrats Could Vote in the New Hampshire GOP Primary

Independent voters were welcome, but registered Democrats could not participate.

Former President Donald Trump autographs hats while visiting with supporters outside the polling site at Londonderry High School on January 23, 2024, in Londonderry, New Hampshire. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

In a post sent on Truth Social and reposted on X (formerly known as Twitter), Donald Trump expressed outrage at the prospect of Democrats and independents in New Hampshire voting in the Republican primary contest.

https://twitter.com/TrumpDailyPosts/status/1749936137563779102?s=20

While independent voters could indeed vote on the Republican ballot in the 2024 New Hampshire primaries, registered Democrats are permitted to vote only in their own primary contest.

New Hampshire utilizes a semi-closed primary system, meaning individuals registered as Republicans or Democrats are allowed to vote only in their respective primary contests. Independent voters who are not registered with either party can choose to vote in either contest, but they cannot participate in both. The deadline to switch party affiliations in New Hampshire fell on October 6, 2023, after which any individual registered as a Democrat no longer had the option to switch affiliations and vote on the Republican ballot.

Following this October deadline, the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s Office announced that approximately 3,500 voters had changed their registrations from Democrat to unenrolled. A further 400 fully swapped their affiliation from Democrat to Republican. According to the Independent Voter Project, about 30 percent of New Hampshire’s approximately 1 million registered voters were registered as Democrats as of November 2023, meaning these defections represent less than 1.5 percent of the state’s total Democrat-registered population.

Various news networks projected Donald Trump to win the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday night.

If you have a claim you would like to see us fact check, please send us an email at factcheck@thedispatch.com. If you would like to suggest a correction to this piece or any other Dispatch article, please email corrections@thedispatch.com.

Alex Demas is a fact checker at The Dispatch and is based in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining the company in 2023, he worked in England as a financial journalist and earned his MA in Political Economy at King's College London. When not heroically combating misinformation online, Alex can be found mixing cocktails, watching his beloved soccer team Aston Villa lose a match, or attempting to pet stray cats.

Share with a friend

Your membership includes the ability to share articles with friends. Share this article with a friend by clicking the button below.

Please note that we at The Dispatch hold ourselves, our work, and our commenters to a higher standard than other places on the internet. We welcome comments that foster genuine debate or discussion—including comments critical of us or our work—but responses that include ad hominem attacks on fellow Dispatch members or are intended to stoke fear and anger may be moderated.

You are currently using a limited time guest pass and do not have access to commenting. Consider subscribing to join the conversation.

With your membership, you only have the ability to comment on The Morning Dispatch articles. Consider upgrading to join the conversation everywhere.