Every primary election, we hear complaints from family and friends about the fact that they have to ask an election judge for a Democratic, Republican, or Green party ballot.
Some other states do run primary elections differently. We’ve compiled a breakdown for you below.
Open Primary: A voter can privately choose any party’s ballot to vote on. There is no need to register with a political party beforehand.
- Alabama
- Michigan
- Montana
- Vermont
- Arkansas
- Minnesota
- North Dakota
- Virginia
- Georgia
- Mississippi
- South Carolina
- Wisconsin
- Hawaii
- Missouri
- Texas
Partially Open: A voter can choose any party’s ballot to vote on, but must publicly declare which party’s ballot they want.
- Illinois
- Tennessee
- Indiana
- Wyoming
- Iowa
- Ohio
Closed Primary: A voter must register with a political party before voting on that party’s primary ballot. Independent, or unaffiliated voters, are excluded from voting.
- Delaware
- Nevada
- Pennsylvania
- Florida
- New Mexico
- Kentucky
- New York
- Maryland
- Oregon
Top-Two Primary: The “top two” format uses a common ballot, listing all candidates on the same ballot. The top two vote getters in each race, regardless of party, advance to the general election. Top-two, nonpartisan blanket, jungle primary are used interchangeably.
- California
- Washington
- Nebraska (for nonpartisan legislative races only)
- Louisiana**
**In the case of Louisiana — all candidates run in the general election, if a candidate receives 50 percent of the vote, they win outright. If no candidate receives 50 percent in the general, then the top two vote getters compete in a runoff election.
Sources: http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/primary-types.aspx
