When I first heard reports of this, I swore I was having a bad nightmare and mishearing the radio news. But, it turns out that it’s quite real ^[1]. Virginia holds open primaries. You can self-select as Republican or Democrat and vote in the proper primary that you identify with. In fact, courtesy of Wikipedia: the Virginia Open Primary Law states that “[a]ll persons qualified to vote…may vote at the primary. No person shall vote for the candidates of more than one party.

Except that this time, if you choose to vote in Republican Primary, you will forced into signing an oath of fealty to the Republican Party.

I’m going to repeat that because it bears repeating.

If you choose to vote in the Republican Primary, you will be forced into signing an oath that you will vote for the Republican candidate in the Presidential election.

It’s not enforceable by law, but it certainly is odious, and I suppose, something I’ve come to expect from the Republicans in power.