Feel like officially switching political parties? In Virginia, you can’t get no satisfaction.

So you’re fed up? Had it with your political party of choice? Rarin’ to officially switch — the voter’s version of divorce?

You’ll find no satisfaction in Virginia, where you were never tied down in the first place.

Virginia is one of 19 states where residents don’t align themselves with a particular party when they register to vote — a reality at least some have forgotten.

Upset by the election and aftermath, they’ve been contacting local registrars requesting to make a formal change.

In York County, where registrar Walt Latham and staff have fielded a handful of inquiries, some voters were puzzled when reminded of the facts.

“When we explain that Virginia has no party registration,” Latham said, “some are like, ‘Are you sure? I remember choosing a party.’ No, they didn’t, but we realize it was a long time ago for a lot of people.”

With so much talk in the national news about the dominant parties — “registered Democrats” or “registered Republicans” — it’s no wonder people assume that’s how it works everywhere.

“And if you’ve come here from another state that does register its voters, it can really be confusing,” said Christine Lewis, deputy director at the Virginia Beach registrar’s office.

Among states that register: North Carolina, where data from the state board of elections shows nearly 5,000 voters changing parties in the week after the Capitol riots, according to a story by CBS 17 News. More than three times as many Republicans as Democrats made a switch.

With no clear-cut rolls in Virginia, it’s impossible to gauge such rapid shifts. Mary Lynn Pinkerman, Chesapeake’s registrar, said the recent requests she’s personally dealt with “have been Republicans wanting to change parties” but regrets can certainly go both ways.

There’s enough disillusionment out there “to go around,” Pinkerman said.

But the only way to ditch a party in Virginia is with an actual vote.

The state has “open primaries” — meaning voters can participate in any primary they wish. There’s no need for the type of party registration that’s used in other places to close primaries to outsiders.

Some argue that open primaries are more vulnerable to shenanigans from the opposition.

Norfolk’s registrar explained how.

“A savvy voter could say, ‘Well, I’ll vote for who I think would be the worst candidate to run against the person I really want to win,’” Stephanie Iles said.

Concerned about such things, Del. Glenn Davis (R-Virginia Beach) has introduced legislation calling for closed primaries in the commonwealth and the party registration that would require.

“I think it would help with election transparency,” he said, “ensuring that those affiliated with one party do not get involved in the other party’s nomination process.”

Latham, the Yorktown registrar, doesn’t think that happens much. With primaries typically held all at the same time and everyone limited to a single vote in that election, few seem likely to spend theirs on such tactics.

“There’s no evidence of enough of that kind of thing to make any real difference,” he said.

Maybe so, Davis said, “but we’re at the stage where the perception of defending the integrity of the ballot box is just as important as the reality.”

In the meantime, the lack of party registration doesn’t shield Virginians from being selectively bombarded. Campaigns can purchase lists from the state that include not just registered voters but a break-down of their participation by primary.

“They can’t find out exactly who you voted for but the rest of it is public information,” Norfolk’s Iles said, another thing people forget.

In the onslaught of targeted mailers and robocalls, voters can feel like they surely must have joined a party at some point. The boom in mail-in voting is bound to intensify the blitz, Latham said.

At least one bill in Richmond aims to make no-excuse absentee voting — initially fueled by the pandemic — standard procedure. If so, absentee applications will continue to mushroom. By necessity, applications for primaries require voters to indicate which party’s ballot they want to be sent.

“I’m pretty sure the campaigns will be able to access that list, too,” Latham said. “It’s the closest thing we have to party registration.”

Those applications are also the only way — at least until another election comes around — to break-up with a party.

Voters determined to dissolve things here and now can contact registrars in their locality to change their primary ballot requests.

Joanne Kimberlin, 757-446-2338, joanne.kimberlin@pilotonline.com