What are Primaries? Primaries are a time to vote on who the next presidential candidate will be. Prior to a general election, there is a selection process to determine which candidate will appear on the ballot for a given political party in the nationwide general election.
The process of choosing delegates to the national convention is undertaken at the state level, which means that there are significant differences from state to state and sometimes year to year. The two methods for choosing delegates to the national convention are the caucuses and the primary.
There are two main types of primaries, closed or open, that determine who is eligible to vote in the primary. In a closed primary a registered voter may vote only in the election for the party with which that voter is affiliated. For example a voter registered as Democratic can vote only in the Democratic primary and a Republican can vote only in the Republican primary. In an open primary, a registered voter can vote in either primary regardless of party membership. The voter cannot, however, participate in more than one primary.
How does a candidate win a party’s presidential nomination? A candidate wins by the delegate total, not the sheer number of votes. Each state is allotted a certain number of delegates based on a formula of population and weight in the political party. The state parties then award delegates to the candidates based on the votes they receive. The first candidate to get a majority of the nearly 4,000 delegates wins the nomination.
If you are planning on voting in your primaries make sure
- You are registered, to see if you are registered click here.
- You know if and when your state is holding them, to see when your primaries will be held click here.
- You know where your polling station is located, to find your polling station click here.
In some cases the primaries will also include state and local primaries on the ballot. Make sure to check with your local polling station to see what will be on your ballot!