On 6 April 2016, reports surfaced that two of Donald Trump's children, Ivanka and Eric Trump, were not registered to vote for the Republican presidential candidate in the New York primary later this month:
Donald Trump’s three oldest children have campaigned with their father and served as surrogates during the presidential race. But only one of them is actually a member of the party Trump hopes to lead.
Records from the New York State Board of Elections show that neither Ivanka Trump nor Eric Trump is enrolled in a political party. Trump’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is a Republican.
Both Eric and Ivanka Trump have also donated money to Democrats. Campaign finance reports show Eric gave $1,000 to Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in 2010. Eric has made 11 other contributions totaling over $138,000 that all went to Republican candidates.
Donald Trump confirmed in an interview with Fox & Friends that Eric and Ivanka were not enrolled in any political party, and therefore would not be voting for him in the 19 April 2016 primary:
.@realdonaldtrump says Eric, Ivanka feel "guilty" for not registering as Republicans in time to vote pic.twitter.com/NmWBn38Hn5
— POLITICO (@politico) April 11, 2016
“They had a long time [to] register and they were, you know, unaware of the rules, and they didn’t, they didn’t register in time,” he said. “So they feel very, very guilty.”
“But it’s fine, I mean, I understand that. I think they have to register a year in advance and they didn’t. So Eric and Ivanka I guess won’t be voting,” he said.
As New York isn't an open primary state, U.S. citizens who plan to vote in the 2016 New York presidential primary are required to be registered as either a Republican or a Democrat.
The New York State Board of Elections states on its web site that the deadline for new voter registrations was 25 March, while registered voters had until 9 October 2015 to change their party affiliation before the April 2016 primary:
To vote in the upcoming Presidential Primary, you must be a registered Republican or Democrat. For already registered voters, any change to party enrollment was to have been requested by October 9th, 2015 in order for it to have gone into effect and be applicable for any primary election occurring in 2016 or beyond. The deadline for new voter registrations is March 25th.
According to Reuters, the two have (like their father) made political contributions to both Democrats and Republicans.