Wednesday Is The Deadline To Register If You Want To Vote In The Mass. Primaries

If you want to vote in the state primaries on Sept. 4 and you're not registered to vote, the deadline to register is this Wednesday, Aug. 15.

That's also the deadline if you want to change your party enrollment or change your address ahead of the primaries.

You can register to vote or update your information online, if your signature is on file at the Registry of Motor Vehicles, or you can register by mail or in-person at a local election office. You can check your registration status here.

There are some key contested primary races this year — including for governor, for U.S. Senate on the Republican side and for Democrats seeking to be secretary of state. There are also closely watched Democratic primaries in the 3rd and 7th congressional districts.

Unenrolled voters can vote in the primary of their choice.

There is no early voting period with the primaries; early voting for the Nov. 6 general election will begin Oct. 22.

Last week, Massachusetts became the 14th state in the country to adopt automatic voter registration (AVR), but that system is not expected to be in place until 2020.

Common Cause, which advocated for AVR, estimates it will boost registration by hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts voters, over several years.