The Massachusetts Secretary of State recently released registration data.  The data is as of August 25, 2010.  The new figures:  Democratic 1,521,487; Republican 470,852; Libertarian 14,784; Green 5,717; American Independent 700; Reform 296; Socialist 207; Constitution 83; various other unqualified minor parties 1,503; independents 2,135,446.  Total 4,151,075.

In the spring of 2010, the registration tally showed:  Democratic 1,524,455; Republican 471,224; Libertarian 13,690; Green 5,858; Reform 304; Socialist 206; Constitution 90;  independents and various other unqualified parties 2,128,714.  Total 4,144,335.  Thanks to Brandon Henderson for the news.  Currently, the only ballot-qualified parties in Massachusetts are Democratic, Republican, and Libertarian, so those are the only parties listed on the voter registration form.  Massachusetts tallies the number of registrations for other groups that request it, but their voters must write-in the name of that unqualified party on the voter registration form.

The Massachusetts Libertarian Party isn’t running any nominees in its own primary this year, so it will lose its status as a qualified party in November 2010 and will go off the voter registration form.  The Libertarian Party is running some of its own nominees for U.S. House and state legislature as independent candidates this year, some of them with the ballot label “Liberty.”  The party didn’t run any candidates in its own primary because state election laws make it so difficult for members of small qualified parties to get on their own party’s primary ballot.