BOSTON, MA – The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) has been officially recognized as a political designation in Massachusetts, allowing voters to register their affiliation with the group for the first time. State election officials will now begin tallying the number of voters who enroll under the PSL banner.

This development marks the initial step in the PSL’s effort to become a ballot-qualified political party in the state, though currently it appears that there is no official Party Branch covering Massachusetts, with the Boston branch being a direct branch from the national party rather than having statewide coverage. Massachusetts law provides two distinct pathways to achieve official party status, per Ballot Access News.

The first, described as “very difficult,” requires a political organization to persuade 1% of all registered voters in the state, approximately 50,000 people, to enroll in their party. The second, considered an easier path, grants party status to any group whose candidate for a statewide office secures at least 3% of the vote in a general election. The Libertarian Party had taken the second path to hold official party status before losing it after the defeat of presidential candidate Chase Oliver in 2024.

Currently, only the Democratic and Republican parties hold official “Party” status, which allows them to hold their own primary elections. The PSL joins a long list of over two dozen “Designations,” including the Libertarian, Green-Rainbow, and Forward parties, which can be selected by voters upon registration but do not have automatic ballot access or their own primaries.