The Democratic Party’s gerrymander debacle has created an extraordinary situation: New Yorkers are allowed to switch their party affiliation at the ballot booth on Aug. 23 to vote in another party’s primary elections. 

Under normal circumstances, a voter had a Feb. 14 deadline to change party affiliation for primary elections scheduled in June.

But since judges nullified the Democrats’ partisan gerrymandered district maps — which GOP critics labeled a Hochulander since Gov. Kathy Hochul signed off on them — for Congress and state Senate and ordered primary elections on Aug. 23 based on districts redrawn by a court special master, that deadline no longer applies.

Registered independent or unaffiliated voters can join a party to vote in a contested primary race and registered Republicans or Democrats could temporarily change their party affiliation and crash another party’s primary races for Congress or state Senate. 

For example, Republicans or independents could decide to re-enroll in the Democratic Party to vote in the contested primary between Reps. Jerry Nadler and Carolyn Maloney and Suraj Patel in the 12th Congressional District covering the East and West sides of  Manhattan.

Or Republicans or unaffiliated voters could switch registration to Democrat to vote in the crowded 10th Congressional District primary covering lower Manhattan and brownstone Brooklyn. Candidates include Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, House impeachment lawyer Dan Goldman, Rep. Mondaire Jones, former Congresswoman and Brooklyn DA Elizabeth Holtzman and Brooklyn Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon, among others.

Conversely, Democrats or unaffiliated voters could re-enroll as a Republican to determine the spirited primary between conservative businessman Carl Paladino and Nick Langworthy, the state Republican Party chairman in the 23rd upstate Congressional District covering the Buffalo region and the southern tier.

Gothamist.com first reported the opportunity for party switching.

“If voters fill out an affidavit ballot on primary day to change their party enrollment, their votes will count,” said Doug Kellner, the Democrats’ co-chairman on the state Board of Elections.

The state Board of Election, in guidance sent to local elected officials, said, “A change of enrollment received by the board of elections will take effect immediately.”

A voter requesting and filling out an affidavit ballot to re-enroll in a party on primary day will be accepted as valid and be counted, the guidance says.

State election officials said it requested that the legislature extend the Feb. 14 deadline to for changing party affiliation to the August 23 primary, but lawmakers refused to do so.

Kellner foresees candidates in the crowded 10th CD primary wooing unaffiliated voters to re-enroll as Democrats.

“In the 10th Congressional District, every vote will count,” he said.