There may be at least 1,000 Lake County registered voters who believe they can vote in the Democratic primary on June 7, but they are mistaken. Why? They think they are are registered “independent” when in truth, they are registered as members of the American Independent Party.

It is an easy mistake to make. In the list of party affiliations on the voter registration form, AIP comes first, alphabetically. A person who wants to be “independent” rather than affiliated with any of the other parties listed can easily check that box by mistake.

But “American Independent Party” is an actual party, in California. Statistics suggest that most of its members are in it by mistake – about 75 percent of all members of the AIP did not intend to register with that party. Seventy five percent!

According to the Lake County Registrar's Office, there are about 1,350 voters in Lake County registered as AIP. About 140 of those have registered as AIP since October 2015. The timing suggests that those 140 people may have registered with the June 7 primary in mind (they may not have heard of Bernie Sanders before October 2015).

However, because they registered American Independent Party instead of “no party preference,” they will not be able to vote in the June 7 Democratic primary – unless they change their registration now. There is still time.

Voters have until May 23 to correct (change) their registration from AIP to “no party preference” or Democrat if they want to vote in the June 7 primary.

As the deadline approaches, the system may slow down due to increased traffic, so it is recommended not to delay, but correct your party preference (or lack thereof) NOW – don't wait!

To vote in the Democratic primary, you need to be either a Democratic Party member or “no party preference.” Members of the Green party or any other party who wish to vote for Bernie Sanders on June 7 still have time to change their registration. (You can always change it again later.)

You can verify your current party preference by calling the Lake County Registrar at 888-235-6730.

You can register to vote online at  http://registertovote.ca.gov/ .

Deb Baumann lives in Upper Lake, Calif.