Primary election is a method of selecting candidates to run for public office. In a primary election, a political party, in effect, holds an election among its own members to select the party members who will represent it in the coming general election. Any number of party members can run for an office in a primary. But only the winning candidate can represent the party in the general election. Parties learn from the primary votes which candidates the members of their parties prefer. When several candidates enter a primary, the winner may receive less than 50 percent of the vote. Some states, especially in the South, then hold a run-off primary, in which the two candidates with the highest number of votes run against each other.
Direct and indirect.
The direct primary is the most common form of primary election. In the direct primary, party members who want to run for office file petitions to have their names placed on the ballot. Voters then vote directly for the candidates of their choice. In an indirect primary, party members vote for delegates to party conventions, where candidates are chosen.
Open and closed.
A primary election is considered closed when each voter must declare a choice of party, either when registering to vote or when voting. Party members can vote only for candidates on their party’s ballot, and their party’s contest is closed to members of other parties. In an open primary, the voter receives ballots for all the parties in the election, and chooses both party and candidates in the voting booth. A few states hold a primary called a blanket primary, in which voters may choose candidates from different parties.
Nonpartisan primaries
are often used for judicial, school board, and local elections. Candidates are listed on the ballot with no indication of political affiliation. The voters choose candidates on the basis of their individual merits, not their party membership. The candidates with the greatest numbers of votes become the opposing candidates in the general election.
The presidential primary
is used in over half of the states to choose delegates to the national party conventions. Each candidate who enters the election lists a slate of delegates who have promised to support the candidate at the convention. The party members show their choice for the presidential nomination by voting for the slate of delegates committed to that candidate. Primaries that select about two-thirds of the delegates are held in the first six months of presidential election years.
History.
Before primary elections were used, political parties nominated candidates for office at party conventions and caucuses. Political bosses often hand-picked candidates, making shady deals to win enough votes. People gradually turned against this system as being undemocratic and open to corruption. Reform movements urged “No More Boss Rule” and “Down with King Caucus!”
In 1903, Wisconsin passed the first statewide primary law. Within 10 years, most states did likewise. Today, every state uses some form of primary election for statewide offices. Several states still use the caucus system to nominate presidential candidates.
