Trump Falsely Claims Democrats Can Vote in New Hampshire’s GOP Primary

WHAT WAS SAID

“Nikki Haley is counting on Democrats and liberals to infiltrate your Republican primary.”
— Former President Donald J. Trump during a New Hampshire rally Wednesday

This is false.

Mr. Trump has falsely and repeatedly suggested in recent days that one of his Republican rivals, Nikki Haley, is counting on Democrats to win the Republican presidential primary in New Hampshire next week. In fact, registered Democrats cannot vote in the state’s Republican primary — though voters who are not affiliated with a party can.

During a rally on Wednesday in Portsmouth, N.H., Mr. Trump asked of the state’s Republican governor, Chris Sununu, who has endorsed Ms. Haley: “But why does he allow Democrats to vote in the Republican primary?”

A day earlier, in Atkinson, N.H., Mr. Trump made similar claims. “As you know, Nikki Haley in particular is counting on the Democrats and liberals to infiltrate your Republican primary. You know that, that’s what’s happening. You have a group of people coming in that are not Republicans.”

In New Hampshire, undeclared voters — often called simply independents — can choose to vote in either the Democratic or the Republican presidential primary, though not in both, as the New Hampshire secretary of state’s website explains. The voters become registered members of the party they select, though they can return to being an undeclared voter after the primary, if they want.

But in order for registered Democrats to vote in the state’s Republican primary, they needed to have changed their party affiliation months ago: The deadline was Oct. 6.

It is worth noting that these rules were in place in 2016, when Mr. Trump won New Hampshire’s primary during his first bid for president.

Ms. Haley, who served as Mr. Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, has been courting the state’s independent voters. On Friday, she pushed back on Mr. Trump’s claims and other attacks, accusing her former boss of pushing “too many lies.”