Primaries

Primaries

؛A political primary enables members of a party to express their preference for a candidate to run in a general election. In most primary election, the candidate must receive a plurality (more votes than any other candidate) to win. Primaries may be open or closed.

A primary election is an election in which voters in a jurisdiction select candidates for a subsequent election (nominating primary). In other words, primary elections are generally when each political party decides its nominee for the upcoming general election. Primaries are common in the United State.

Types of Primaries

Closed; Voters may vote in a party's primary only if they are registered members of that party. Independents cannot participate. They should declare a party affiliation.

Semi-closed; As in closed primaries, registered Republicans and Democrats can vote only in their own party's primary. Semi-closed systems, however, allow unaffiliated voters to participate as well. Depending on the state, independents either make their choice of party primary privately, inside the voting booth, or publicly, by registering with either the Republican or Democratic Party on Election Day.

Open. A registered voter may vote in any party primary regardless of his or her own party affiliation. When voters do not pre-register with a party before the primary, it is called a pick-a-party primary because the voter can select which party's primary he wishes to vote in on Election Day.

In an Open primary voters "are not required to publicly choose one party or the other. Rather, they enter the voting booth and choose the party ballot on which they will vote in secret." Hence, one does not need to be a member of a particular party in order to vote in a party's primary. Also a member of one party can vote in the primary of another party. However, one can vote in only one primary. For example, the Virginia Open Primary Law states that all persons qualified to vote…may vote at the primary. No person shall vote for the candidates of more than one party.The purpose of an open primary is to incorporate more moderate votes into the primary elections. Open primaries were established in Wisconsin during 1903 to respond to pressure from the progressive faction of Republican Party and to public concern expressed over the rights of nonpartisan voters (Wisconsin, 1975:5-7).Argument supporting open primaries are that they protect the rights of voters to keep their party preferences secret, they maximize a voter’s choice in selecting a primary candidate, and they encourage widespread citizen participation in candidate selection.

A closed primary is a type of direct primary limited to registered party members who have declared their party affiliation, in order to vote in the election. The closed primary serves to encourage party unity and prevent members of other parties from infiltrating and voting to nominate weak candidates؛.