Political parties vary by state, and registration processes do also as noted elsewhere in the thread. There may not be an Independent party in your state, but there are in others and it causes confusion.
The point of the post is to share the point of confusion so people can read up on their registration or state party platforms. If you’re not going to bother to learn about the differences that do exist, but still want to broadly claim “election year bullshit”, maybe you’re part of the problem you’re raging about.