Photo by Burnt Pixel

Some people in D.C. love being independent. There’s about 80,000 of them on the city’s voter rolls, in fact.

But when it comes to local elections, being an independent isn’t particularly accommodating. Given the city’s political history, the Democratic primary usually ends up determining the results of the general election—and independent voters aren’t allowed to vote in the primaries.

So if you don’t want to be left out of the April 3 fun, you have until Monday, March 5 to join one of the District’s political parties (Democratic, Republican or Statehood Green) or jump from one party to the other. After that, well, you’re stuck with what you’ve chosen until after the November 6 general election.

Additionally, if you want to register to vote or you’ve got other non-party changes to be made to your voter registration status (you can check it here) and want to do it by mail, it has to be postmarked by Monday. After that, you’ll have to head down to the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics in Judiciary Square in person.

No, it’s not the political system many people would like to have, but you go to the polls with the rules you’ve got, not the ones you wish you had.