General Discussion

The only thing you have to do is Texas is show up with your ID to vote in a primary, and state whether you wish to have the democratic or republican ballot. It doesn't mean you're "registered" or anything like that. They do publish it on the county website (they have separate spreadsheets for dem & repug), and it holds you to vote in that same party for any applicable run-off races a few months later. That's it. In the general you go back to your open ballot and vote how you want. Oh, and they send you lots of campaign postcards ... the next election - that's probably the most annoying part!

But you're absolutely correct that the primaries are usually low activity. A lot of folks not so involved in politics just sit it out and let the parties select their candidate. Then they show up in November, as you stated, and can make a big difference.