The following announcement was provided by the City of Watertown:
If you are voter filling out the Unenrolled Vote by Mail Application and you are NOT enrolled in a Party, you must select a Ballot type for the Primary elections on March 5, 2024 and September 3, 2024.
To receive a primary ballot by mail, you must choose a Democratic, Republican, or Libertarian ballot.
The application is incomplete and cannot be processed without a ballot selection and the voter’s signature.
Please call the City Clerk at 617-715-8686 for help answering your questions.
Thanks for publishing this information. To further elaborate, you must choose one of the three parties listed above for the Primary Election. Massachusetts is a closed primary election state. However for the general election, you can change back to Unenrolled or a Party. If you change back to Unenrolled, meaning you are not unenrolled in any party, do not chose anything labelled Independent. Independent whatever party, means you are enrolled in a party with an Independent label. These parties can be conservative, liberal or some mix.
https://www.sec.state.ma.us/divisions/elections/voting-information/political-parties-and-designations.htm
More importantly, fill out your city census and return it. You will be marked with a status of unenrolled on the election roll, and this may create a situation in which you will only have a provisional ballot available to you . It may also cause a situation in which you will have to show proof of residency (Any printed identification which contains the voter’s name and address). In the state of Massachusetts, poll workers cannot demand proof of residency unless you are new to Massachusetts.
https://www.sec.state.ma.us/divisions/elections/voting-information/inactive-voters.htm
Massachusetts Election Calendar: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/CalendarWeb/Pages/MonthWeekCalendar.aspx
Register to Vote (16 years olds can PRE-register):
https://www.sec.state.ma.us/OVR/