In Massachusetts, registered voters may choose to enroll in a political party, enroll with a political designation, or choose to be an Unenrolled voter (independent).
All registered voters may vote in general elections. Massachusetts voters enrolled in a particular party may vote only in that party's primary, and cannot vote in another party's primary. Unenrolled voters may cast a primary ballot for any party. Political designations are treated as "Unenrolled" voters for primary purposes, and so they too may choose to vote in any one of the party primaries.
Under Massachusetts law, a political designation is created when fifty registered Massachusetts voters file a form with the Secretary of the Commonwealth requesting that they, or any other voters, may change their registration to such designation. These non-party political designations may field candidates for statewide office, if they petition with a sufficient number of signatures (10,000).
The list of Political Parties and Political Designations in Massachusetts are:
| Abbreviation | Political Party
|
|---|
| D | Democratic Party |
| R | Republican Party |
| U | Unenrolled (Independent) |
| Abbreviation | Political Designation |
|---|
| A | Conservative |
| B | Natural Law Party |
| C | New World Council |
| E | Reform |
| F | Rainbow Coalition |
| G | Green Party USA |
| H | We The People |
| J | Green-Rainbow |
| K | Constitution Party |
| L | Libertarian |
| M | Timesizing Not Down |
| N | New Alliance |
| O | MA Independent Party |
| P | Prohibition |
| Q | American Independent |
| S | Socialist |
| T | Inter 3rd Party |
| V | America First Party |
| W | Veteran America Party |
| X | Pirate |
| Y | World Citizens Party |
| Z | Working Families |
| AA | Pizza Party |
| BB | American Term Limits |
| CC | United Independent Party |
| DD | Twelve Visions Party |
| EE | Latino-Vote Party |
| FF | The People's Party |
| GG | Workers Party |
| HH | Unity Party |
| JJ | Forward Party |
| KK | Socialism and Liberation |