The presidential primary contest will be heating up in early 2016. And Arizona voters who want to participate must be registered with a political party.

Arizona’s presidential preference election is March 22.

That may sound far away. But there are now fewer than 50 days to register to vote for that election by the February 22 deadline.

Independent voters are the biggest group of voters in the state. Some 1.2 million Arizonans are not registered with one of the five political parties. But independent voters aren't able to participate in the March election, said Arizona Secretary of State spokesman Matthew Roberts.   

“Our message is if you are an independent and you want to participate in the presidential preference election, you have got to register by February 22 with one of the major parties,” Roberts said.

There’s likely to be some confusion since many independents are accustomed to state primaries, where they can participate.

Registered voters can update their party preference online.