A primary election is an election in which registered voters in a jurisdiction select the candidates who will enter a subsequent election (nominating primary). Primaries are common in the United States, but are generally rare elsewhere in the world. Historically the US progressive movement is held responsible for their general introduction.

Generally, primaries are used to select one candidate on each political party but may also be non-partisan, such as in a run-off primary.

Types of Primaries

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Open. Voters may vote in primaries of a party of their choice, the choice to be made at the voting booth. When voters do not pre-register for a party, this is called the pick-a-party primary because the voter can select which party he wishes to vote in on election day. In other open primary states, voters pre-register their party preference but the information is only used by parties for mailing lists and is non-binding.

More on [ Primary election ]

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