Trump falsely claims Democrats can vote in New Hampshire's Republican primary.

WHAT WAS SAID

“Nikki Haley is counting on Democrats and liberals to infiltrate your Republican primaries.”
– Former President Donald J. Trump at a rally in New Hampshire Wednesday

This is wrong.

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

At a rally on Wednesday in Portsmouth, N.H., Mr. Trump asked the state's Republican governor, Chris Sununu, who endorsed Ms. Haley: “But why is he allowing Democrats to vote in the Republican primaries?”

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

In New Hampshire, undeclared voters — often simply called independents — can choose to vote in either the Democratic or Republican presidential primaries, but not both, as the New Hampshire Secretary of State's website says. explains. Voters become registered members of the party they choose, but can become black voters again after the primaries if they wish.

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

It's worth noting that these rules were in effect in 2016, when Trump won the New Hampshire primary in his first bid for the presidency.

Ms. Haley, who served as Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, has courted the state's independent voters. She has Friday pushed back about Trump's claims and other attacks, accusing her former boss of spreading “too many lies.”