Primary Elections

Primary elections are elections were voters select the candidates to run for public office. Primaries are either direct or indirect and may be either open or closed.

In a direct primary, voters choose candidates via a direct vote, while in an indirect primary, voters elect delegates who then choose the party’s candidates at a nominating convention.

In open primaries, voters of any affiliation may vote in the primary of any party. However, they cannot vote in more than one party’s primary. In many states with open primaries, voters do not indicate partisan affiliation when they register to vote. One argument against open primaries is crossover voting. Voters affiliated with one political party may vote in the primary of another political party to influence that party’s nomination.

In closed primaries, only voters registered with a given political party can vote in that party’s primary. States with closed primaries include party affiliation in voter registration. Closed primaries guarantee that only genuine members of a political party influence who that party nominates. However, one argument against closed primaries is that it does not allow voters to choose and that it exacerbates radicalization. Furthermore, it prevents independents who are unwilling to declare a party affiliation to vote and intimidates those who wish to keep their affiliation private. Party organizations believe that closed primaries promote party unity.

The debate on which type of primary election is best is ongoing. Several states have adopted hybrid variations of the types above. For example, California adopted a nonpartisan blanket primary in 2012 after Proposition 14.

Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/primary-election
https://www.fairvote.org/open_and_closed_primaries