Could we please stop repeating this erroneous "fact?"

[Liberal In Texas]

We do not register either Democrat or Republican in Texas.
There is no need to register. The primaries are open. Anybody can vote in whatever primary strikes their fancy.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

[JustAnotherGen]

1. I'm seeing it

All over the place.

[Liberal In Texas]

2. I heard it for the last 2 days on Stephanie's show.

There was also a post here today. Driving me nuts. (I know, short drive....)

[JustAnotherGen]

5. I follow

@smugcristophe on Threads. He's posting the truth over and over again - as well as dealing with people who have never lived in Texas (his life long state) arguing with him and telling him he's wrong.

[ananda]

3. Actually you can register here.

I am a registered Democrat.

[Liberal In Texas]

4. Wel, apparently you CAN register which allows some party business things.

But nobody is required to to vote. So very few are.

[LeftInTX]

14. What? I'm a Precinct Chair, but I'm not registered as a Democrat on my voter registration card!

We are required to sign an oath of affiliation. I don't know how many precinct chairs, party chairs, SDEC, members, TDP employees , convention delegates we have in in Texas, but all are pledge not to vote in the GOP primary. Party and precinct chairs are legally bound not to vote in the GOP primary or be a delegate at GOP convention. That's it. But they are not obligated to vote in the Democratic primary.

Delegates cannot vote in the GOP primary or attend at GOP convention.

A precinct chair can be kicked out if they support a GOP candidate. However, they have sued in court after being expelled.

https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/forms/pol-sub/18-28f.pdf

"I swear that I have not voted in a primary election or participated in a convention of
another party during this voting year. I hereby affiliate myself with the
______________________________ Party."

[ananda]

18. Well, I really thought I was registered.

Maybe there was a time when I was and I didn't
know the policy had changed.

[LeftInTX]

20. Check your voter registration card or check the SOS

https://teamrv-mvp.sos.texas.gov/MVP/mvp.do

[summer_in_TX]

46. In Texas, you don't get a party label until you decide to vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary.

Once you declare your intent to vote in a particular primary, your voter registration certificate gets stamped with that party name.

But most voters in Texas skip the primaries and never get their card stamped one way or the other.

Is that what happened and how you are registered as a Democrat, ananda?
I'm in Hays County. Where are you?

[Peacetrain]

6. Thank you Liberal in Texas for posting this.. I looked it up online and AI lied

AI

In Texas, you must register for a party affiliation to vote in the primary elections.

Registration Details:

Deadline: You must register to vote at least 30 days before the primary election.
Party Affiliation: When you register, you can choose a party affiliation. This determines which party's primary you can vote in.
Changing Affiliation: You can change your party affiliation by updating your voter registration before the deadline.
Voting in Primaries:

Closed Primaries: Texas has closed primaries, meaning only registered party members can vote in their party's primary.
Independent Voters: If you do not register with a party, you cannot vote in the primaries.
For more information, you can visit the Texas Secretary of State's website or contact your local election office.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
All other sources said you did not have to register for party affiliation to vote in primary.. I am so leery of this AI stuff for just this reason.. And now that is the first thing that comes up when ever I google something.. it is AI

[Liberal In Texas]

8. Good grief! AI is going to kill us.

[Peacetrain]

9. No kidding!!!!!

[Ms. Toad]

42. And in another thread, I'm arguing with someone who insists AI is (at least at times) good for factual stuff.

This is just one more example of what I find every single time I do a search and an AI answer pops up. I have yet to find one which is factual.

[Peacetrain]

44. That was a real eyeopener for me today.. that is for sure

[Ms. Toad]

45. I've been fact-checking ChatGPT since it was released,

Sometimes on pure facts (for example, I have a grandfather who is well known enough to have a substantial information trove online); some on a combination of fact and application (testing it after there were claims that it has passed the bar exam - nonsense, but I did check to see how it would do on some essay questions).

It switched political parties for my grandfather, put him in the legislature for the wrong years, and representing the wrong geographical area. It got some things right, but more wrong than right. It made up stuff when it didn't need to in order to answer my questions.

I asked it to list artists with aphantasia. It came up with quite the list - it included the two artists I had previously identified plus several more. Not a single one of the other artists actually has aphantasia. No reason for it to make up extra artists to give me a half-dozen people - and when i tried to repeat the list a few days later, it actually provided me with several different artists (who also do not have aphatasia)

On the bar exam questions, I gave it an Ohio specific question - and it answered using generic law. When I repeated the question reminding it I had asked about Ohio law, it recited Ohio law - and still applied generic law. I had to walk it step by step through the application of the law it ultimately recited. (And people have used AI to answer legal questions here, without realizing it is mixing law from multiple jurisdictions and in some instances confusing criminal law and civil law).

Since then, I've been regularly checking other AI interfaces, the google search summaries, etc. I have yet to find one which is completely accurate. Most are at least half made-up crap.

The most recent eyeopener for me (just because it was something a dumb application should have been able to do) was that email providers have started summarizing emails. One summarizing travel information informed me that I had a 3 hour layover in St Louis. I was surprised because I had deliberately chosen the flight which had a 40-minute layover. After scratching my head, I realized it was counting the time from takeoff of the first flight to takeoff of the second flight, rather than landing of the first flight to takeoff of the second flight.

[B.See]

48. re your commentary on our conversation

in another thread, please note that I wouldn't describe it as an "argument" but rather a discussion in which we had differing opinions.

Would've been nice too, if instead of just condensing the whole of what I wrote into your summary above, you'd have linked the discussion so that others could read it for themselves.

[Kingofalldems]

7. I am lost--what is the fact?

I swear I don't get what the fact is or isn't.

[ret5hd]

11. 25yr TX resident here:

1) you register to vote - no affiliation asked
2) you get a card in the mail - no affiliation listed
3) you vote in the primary - you sign in and you are asked which party’s primary you wish to vote in. this selection is noted on the sign-in AND on that aforementioned card (if you brought it with you)
4) if the primary results in a run-off you are ONLY ALLOWED TO VOTE AGAIN IN THE PARTY PRIMARY YOU ORIGINALLY VOTED IN
5) in the regular election that party designation goes away and is irrelevant
6) the next round of elections, start again at item #2

[LeftInTX]

15. Thank you! You got all the facts!

[Ms. Toad]

43. There is no party registration in Texas,

There are zero registered Democrats, and zero registered Republicans.

[W_HAMILTON]

10. Those numbers look to come from the Independent Voter Project.

https://independentvoterproject.org/voter-stats/tx

They explain where they get their voter registration data from and their method of modeling.

[Liberal In Texas]

13. Yes. But to say they're REGISTERED in one party or other is misleading.

From that link:

Texas voters do not register by party. However, when those voters participate in a partisan primary, that ballot choice is recorded and reported on the state voter file. In the absence of stronger indications (e.g. partisan political contributions or identification due to the holding of partisan public office) the most recent even-year partisan primary ballot is used. Texas reports participation in presidential preference primaries in which large percentages vote, particularly in the Republican races. In the absence of any even-year partisan primary participation, the most recent odd-year local partisan primary is used. This information is supplemented through the use of modeling analytics. Likely race in major urban areas plays a major role in that modeling.

So they extrapolate. Maybe accurate? Maybe misleading.

[MayReasonRule]

12. The Numbers Accurately Reflect The Actual Votes Of The "Voting Populace"

Last edited Tue Aug 12, 2025, 02:35 PM - Edit history (1)

Voter registration data provided by and in collaboration with L2 Data, a trusted provider of nonpartisan voter data.

Total Registered Voters: 17,485,702
Votes Cast For Democratic Party Candidate: 8,133,683 (46.52%)
Votes Cast For Republican Party Candidate: 6,601,189 (37.75%)
Votes Cast For Third Party Candidates: 2,750,830 (15.73%)

‍

Texas voters do not register by party.

However, when those voters participate in a partisan primary, that ballot choice is recorded and reported on the state voter file.

In the absence of stronger indications (e.g. partisan political contributions or identification due to the holding of partisan public office) the most recent even-year partisan primary ballot is used.

Texas reports participation in presidential preference primaries in which large percentages vote, particularly in the Republican races.

In the absence of any even-year partisan primary participation, the most recent odd-year local partisan primary is used.

This information is supplemented through the use of modeling analytics. Likely race in major urban areas plays a major role in that modeling.

https://independentvoterproject.org/voter-stats/tx

[LeftInTX]

16. That site is bull! I have no idea where they are getting their stats!

We don't have "odd year" primaries!

And the In the absence of any even-year partisan primary participation, the most
recent odd-year local partisan primary is used. This information is supplemented through the
use of modeling analytics. Likely race in major urban areas plays a major role in that modeling.

https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5c58bb15ad2dee2a28dedef7/68962cdc4bb8cfb47455286c_State%20by%20State%20Partisanship%20Calculations_L2.pdf

Hello??? It's based on some woo methodology. The numbers are based on "modeling"? That's not stats....
It's also based on "likely" race?? So if they're Hispanic, they are automatic Democrats according to their modeling?? Hello??? The Rio Grande Valley went for Trump. They are 80%-90% Latino!

And they are using "major urban areas"? Extrapolating??? Which are the major urban areas??? What are the numbers.
This is woo!




2024 Democratic Primary 982,069
2024 Republican Primary 2,323,019

2020 Democratic Primary 2,094,428
2020 Republican Primary 2,017,167


2016 Democratic Primary 1,435,895
2016 Republican Primary 2,836,488

2012 Democratic Primary 590,164
2012 Republican Primary 1,449,477


2008 Democratic Primary 2,874,986
2008 Republican Primary 1,362,322


Overall the state votes about 55% GOP.

In 2008, we had 1,400,000 more Democrats vote in the primary, (the highest participation in recent record) but McCain got 55% of the vote in the general election.

[MayReasonRule]

25. Lol... Easy There TX... I See No Reason To Conclude That Their Analysis Is Faulty

Looks legit to me.

I'm your neighbor over here in Y'all Qaeda ruled Louisiana.

We lived within the Dallas Metroplex for about 18 years.

[LeftInTX]

26. It's modeling. It's not factual.

It's a project designed to get low turnout people to vote and they are estimating there are that many Democrats if they vote.

The Independent Voter Project
The Independent Voter Project (“IVP”) is a non-profit, non-partisan 501(c)(4) organization dedicated to
better informing voters about important public policy issues and to encouraging non-partisan voters to
participate in the electoral process.

https://independentvoterproject.org/about/about-ivp

It's like saying, "Let's get young people to vote because they will likely vote Democratic".


There is a huge difference between statistics and modeling.

I work with voter data...It also involves "scores" and "marketing analysis". However, scores and targets are not statistics!!! They are used to develop strategy. It's not much different than marketing a product. We think 8 million people will by this type of beer based on....

[MayReasonRule]

31. Modeling Algorithms Vary - I Have No Reason To Conclude That Their Model Is Faulty

If you happen to dig into their modeling analytics let me know what you discover if you would.

From my cursory first look, what they're doing still appears to be legit to me.

Louisiana is gerrymandered the same way and it very well may be that my district one of the two newest in Louisiana will be redrawn and the suddenly Mike the fascist turd Johnson would be my 'Representative' yet again.

Sigh...

Here's to the total and utter destruction of the ongoing criminal enterprise that is the wholly fascist GOP.

[LeftInTX]

34. They charge for that info. It's a ploy to purchase the L2 product over what the party currently uses.

https://www.l2-data.com/datamapping/

https://www.l2-data.com/free-trial/

https://www.l2-data.com/datamapping/voter-data-dictionary/

These numbers were provided by L2 Data on August 8, 2025.
https://ivn.us/posts/are-there-more-democrats-texas-republicans-2025-08-08

L2 is the nation’s leading independent voter data and technology firm. Over the last half century, L2 has set the industry standard for having the most comprehensive voter files and data modeling available.

The Democratic Party uses NGP VAN https://www.ngpvan.com/

NGP VAN is the leading technology provider to Democratic and progressive political campaigns and organizations, nonprofits, municipalities, and other groups. Access an integrated platform of the best fundraising, compliance, field, organizing, digital, and social networking products.

[MayReasonRule]

35. Thank You For The Background Info On The Two Companies LeftinTX!

I'll research further at my earliest convenience!

Really do appreciate the follow-up links y'all!

[LeftInTX]

39. Also: 11,406,186 people voted in 2024 presidential election

According to the Texas Tribune the state has 18.6 million registered voters with 61% turnout. (Lower in urban area)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_United_States_presidential_election_in_Texas

According to the site it states that there are 17,485,702 registered voters in Texas, not just those who vote.

Democrats: 8,133,683 (46.52%)
Republicans: 6,601,189 (37.75%)
Unaffiliated: 2,750,830 (15.73%)

So that number includes 3 million Democrats who don't vote. It only includes 300,000 Republicans who don't vote.

Getting non-voters to vote can be like pulling teeth. Some will literally say "I don't wanna vote. I would rather be partying". Or "go away". Or "no trespassing" signs. Low turnout voters are more likely to have "no solicitor" signs, they are more likely to refuse calls, they are more likely to respond "stop" to texts, they are less likely to answer their door, they are more; likely to slam the door in your face. They are also less likely to read mail. They are more likely to allow campaign lit to accumulate on their doors. They are more likely to move without updating their voter registration. They are more likely do be put on "do not call" lists because they will say, "do not contact me again". They are more likely to have wrong numbers etc.

So, they may support a "woman's right to chose", but they aren't making efforts to vote for it! They may hate Trump. They may post anti-Trump stuff all over SM, but guess what?? They don't vote.

OTOH, some of the meanest "Trump supporters" that I have met are non-voters or not even registered to vote. So how someone "leans", do not necessarily mean that they will vote.

You can have the best data in the world, but it's contacting the people and convincing them to vote that is the hard work.

[MayReasonRule]

40. Lol, Our Understanding Of Methodology Is Aligned....

"You can have the best data in the world, but it's contacting the people and convincing them to vote that is the hard work."


I wholeheartedly agree.

[GreenWave]

29. So based on what I see here:

Total Registered Voters: 17,485,702
Votes Cast For Democratic Party Candidate: 8,133,683 (46.52%)
Votes Cast For Democratic Party Candidate: 6,601,189 (37.75%)
Votes Cast For Third Party Candidates: 2,750,830 (15.73%)

the Democrats have almost 15 million voters, the republicans have zero.

Please let this not be a dream!

[MayReasonRule]

32. Lol... Ooops... Fixed It! Thank You GreenWave!

[edhopper]

17. Unless a lot of those registered Dems voted for Trump

it doesn't explain how this is a "Purple" State.

Trump Harris
6,393,597 4,835,250
56.14% 42.46%

On par with the Red States of Florida and Ohio.

[Always Blue]

19. I guess the parties do register

https://independentvoterproject.org/voter-stats/tx

[LeftInTX]

21. What is this thing? It's bull! It's based on "modeling"....It's woo! It's based on race of people who don't vote.

We don't have "odd year" primaries!

And the In the absence of any even-year partisan primary participation, the most
recent odd-year local partisan primary is used. This information is supplemented through the
use of modeling analytics. Likely race in major urban areas plays a major role in that modeling.

https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5c58bb15ad2dee2a28dedef7/68962cdc4bb8cfb47455286c_State%20by%20State%20Partisanship%20Calculations_L2.pdf

Hello??? It's based on some woo methodology. The numbers are based on "modeling"? That's not stats....
It's also based on "likely" race?? So if they're Hispanic, they are automatic Democrats according to their modeling?? Hello??? The Rio Grande Valley went for Trump. They are 80%-90% Latino!

And they are using "major urban areas"? Extrapolating??? Which are the major urban areas??? What are the numbers.
This is woo!

ABout Us
The Independent Voter Project
The Independent Voter Project (“IVP”) is a non-profit, non-partisan 501(c)(4) organization dedicated to
better informing voters about important public policy issues and to encouraging non-partisan voters to
participate in the electoral process.[

In a nutshell: We think there might be that many Democrats in Texas, but we don't know because they don't vote! It's like any other strategy: Target young people. They are low turnout, but they will be Democrats if they vote!




2024 Democratic Primary 982,069
2024 Republican Primary 2,323,019

2020 Democratic Primary 2,094,428
2020 Republican Primary 2,017,167


2016 Democratic Primary 1,435,895
2016 Republican Primary 2,836,488

2012 Democratic Primary 590,164
2012 Republican Primary 1,449,477


2008 Democratic Primary 2,874,986
2008 Republican Primary 1,362,322


Overall the state votes about 55% GOP.

In 2008, we had 1,400,000 more Democrats vote in the primary, (the highest participation in recent record) but McCain got 55% of the vote in the general election.

[Sharma Dreihund]

22. Former Native Texan

It's not that simple, now is it?

Why did I have to indicate party preference on my Application for a Ballot by Mail (ABBM)?

Because a voter cannot participate in both parties’ primary elections, a voter must indicate, when voting by mail, their party preference to ensure they receive the correct ballot style.
Does requesting a ballot by mail affiliate me with that party?

Not immediately. A voter does not become affiliated with a particular party until the early voting clerk receives their voted primary ballot. (§162.003) If a voter requests a certain primary ballot but does not return a voted ballot for that primary election, they will not be affiliated with a party (unless they take other steps to affiliate with a party).

NOTE NEW LAW: HB 2640 (86th Legislature, 2019) amended Section 162.003 to provide that, for purposes of ballots by mail, a voter does not affiliate with a party until they return a voted ballot. Previously, a person became affiliated merely by requesting a certain party’s ballot by mail.
Can I vote in one party’s primary election and another party’s primary runoff election?

No. By voting in a party’s primary election, a voter has affiliated themselves with that party and is ineligible to participate in the convention or primary runoff election of another party during that calendar year. (§§162.012, 162.013)
https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/laws/advisory2020-05.shtml

[OldBaldy1701E]

23. I have a real question because I do not know the answer.

So, all of you awesome Democratic people deep in the heart...

If the word 'registered' was changed to 'recognized'... would that make the statement correct?

I really don't know, but I guess being an English person made me think about the statement I read, that this was based on polling and such data. I kind of like the impact of the billboard, so I wanted to ask.

[Bluesaph]

24. I wonder where it started

Do you know how many voters voted for democratic candidates vs republican?

It would be simpler to derive a percentage to create a meme. Perhaps it would encourage left leaning people to see if it’s close enough that their vote can make a difference. Especially those living in gerrymandered areas.

[LeftInTX]

27. It's based on modeling to encourage people to vote.

https://independentvoterproject.org/about/about-ivp

But it's based, not on facts, but on estimates of Democrats if they can get them to vote Democratic!

It's based on things like age, race and where they live.

Same old. Same old.

The Independent Voter Project
The Independent Voter Project (“IVP”) is a non-profit, non-partisan 501(c)(4) organization dedicated to
better informing voters about important public policy issues and to encouraging non-partisan voters to
participate in the electoral process.

In the absence of any even-year partisan primary participation, the most recent odd-year local partisan primary is used. This information is supplemented through the use of modeling analytics. Likely races in major urban areas play a major role in that modeling.”

In other words, L2 draws from several datapoints to construct an analytical model of how voter registration breaks down, including races in major cities and urban areas that have a heavy concentration of eligible voters compared to rural areas.

If we could get this many people to vote Democratic, we would have this many Democratic voters!

It encourages candidates to buy a product https://www.l2-data.com/datamapping/ which is in competition with VAN. (which the party currently uses)

TARGET MORE STRATEGICALLY WITH
RELIABLE DATA INTELLIGENCE
At L2, we have all of the pieces of the data puzzle - all housed within a tool where you can view it instantly.
Select from an endless number of up-to-date demographic, geographic, consumer, voter and behavioral variables

Minimize waste and mobilize the right voters with the cleanest data. You will have information for real people you can actually reach

Rely on the most up-to-date voter data. We are constantly refreshing our millions of records with updated county data, recent address changes and new telephone numbers

So, Texas potentially has all those Democrats, if we have the right campaign and buy the right tools!!!

[Bluesaph]

36. Thank you!

[swong19104]

28. If voters aren't registered

for one party or another, how would Abbott and company know how to gerrymander the state?

[Liberal In Texas]

37. By past voting records.

They know how votes are cast right down to the precinct. How many voted for Dems or repubs in a general. In a primary, how many voted in each party's primary.

From that you infer how many people are partial to each party.

[swong19104]

38. That only gets to the granularity of a precinct

The best they can do is say that polling station A had 128 votes for candidate D and 215 for candidate R. But they can’t say who among the 343 ballots submitted are D voters or R voters. And then, the mail-in ballots and dropped off ballots would mix things up quite a bit.

[Liberal In Texas]

41. No. You take the data for each entity and add them up to get a statewide number.

In the primaries they know who voted for D and who voted for R. It's the general where they are not supposed to know how you vote.

[czarjak]

30. Mudding The Water

It's so easy, even a Republican can do it AND get away with it.

[BootinUp]

33. Trying to, in any way, control internet

Chatter, seems like a lost cause.

[summer_in_TX]

47. I've corrected the misinformation repeatedly myself. The poster never removes it or apologizes.

I'm now resorting to muting or blocking them.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

49. Texas is not a red state or a blue state but a non-voting state

Link to tweet