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Speak Out
Path to the Presidency: How do parties choose their nominees?
 By John Vettese, Student Voices staff writer
If you watch television news or keep up with the headlines online, it’s difficult to miss the presidential primary elections. Every day there’s an update: results from another debate, a campaign speech, one candidate dropping in the polls while another takes the lead. Presidential primaries are the elections and caucuses held in each state to choose delegates to party conventions. There is a lot to keep track of. In this series, we’ll explore the presidential primaries, from the roots of party politics to the process of nominating a candidate.
Primaries are how political parties decide on their nominee before Election Day rolls around. Candidates from the same party run against one another, and the winner appears on the general election ballot. Primaries take place for Democrats and Republicans on all levels of government, from city councils to the White House.
The rules of the primary elections differ from state to state and party to party. Each state’s political party, along with the state government, determines:
• When its primary will occur
• The type of election (caucus or election)
• Who can vote in the primary (whether it is open or closed)
If a state has a closed primary election, only those who are registered to a party can vote in that party’s primary; only registered Democrats can vote in the Democratic primary, only registered Republicans can vote in the Republican primary.
If a state has an open primary election, voters do not have to be registered with a particular party to vote in that party’s primary. This means that anyone – even those who are “independent” or registered with the opposing party – can vote in the Republican or Democratic primary. However, that’s either primary, not both. When you go to the polls in a state that has open primaries, you have to decide which party’s primary you want to vote in.
Along with deciding who can vote in primaries, the state parties also determine the type of election. Primaries are either elections or caucuses. Elections are probably the kind you are used to seeing, where voters file into polling stations and cast their ballots in private.
Caucuses, on the other hand, are a bit different. First, voters registered with a party meet in groups to determine whom they support. Local caucuses take place at the precinct level and collect votes in a variety of ways. Sometimes it’s a show of hands. Sometimes, participants break into groups depending on which candidate they support. Ballots can be cast publicly or in private. In a national election, the precinct caucus chooses representatives to cast votes at the district level, and then the state level.
Just as states have different rules for how primaries work and who can vote, they set different dates for primaries. In national elections, some states want their primaries to occur as early as possible to have more influence over the nominating process.
For example, say there are six candidates going into the New Hampshire primary – traditionally the nation’s second primary, following the Iowa caucuses. If three perform poorly, they may be discouraged and end their campaign before the Pennsylvania primary rolls around in April. In recent years, some states have moved up their primary election dates.
The Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary were held in early January. Later in the month, South Carolina and Florida hold their primaries. Super Tuesday rolls around on March 6; that’s the day when several states, including Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Virginia, hold their primaries, along with the Massachusetts Republican caucus, the Minnesota Democratic caucus and the Wyoming Republican caucus.
In general, primaries happen between early winter and late spring, giving candidates ample time to prepare for the conventions and campaign before the general election, which occurs the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November.
What do you think?
What are the advantages to the different types of primaries? What are the disadvantages? If you were in charge of a state’s elections, would you prefer open or closed primaries? Would you want your state to have elections or caucuses? And how early would you set your state’s primaries? Join the discussion!
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