182 PART Two • ThE PoliTiCs oF AmERiCAn DEmoCRACy
Closed Primary
A type of primary in which
the voter is limited to
choosing candidates of the
party of which he or she is
a member.
Open Primary
A primary in which any
voter can vote in either
party primary (but must
vote for candidates of only
one party).In recent years, the Democrats have used the proportional system for all of their
presidential primaries and caucuses. For the most part, the Republicans have relied on the
winner-take-all principle. In 2012, however, the Republican National Committee ruled that
any state choosing national convention delegates before April 1 would be required to use
the proportional system. States voting later could adopt whatever method they preferred.
A number of early-voting states, such as Arizona and Florida, refused to follow the rules
and used winner-take-all systems. They were penalized. Still, a majority of the states now
allocate Republican National Convention delegates on a proportional basis.Closed and open Primaries. A closed primary is one of several types of primaries dis-
tinguished by how independent voters are handled. In a closed primary, only declared
members of a party can vote in that party’s primary. In other words, voters must declare
their party affiliation, either when they register to vote or at the primary election. In a
closed-primary system, voters cannot cross over into the other party’s primary in order
to nominate the weakest candidate of the opposing party or to affect the ideological
direction of that party. In an open primary, any voter can vote in either party’s primary
without declaring a party affiliation. Basically, the voter makes the choice in the privacy of
the voting booth. The voter must, however, choose one party’s list from which to select
candidates.Blanket Primary. A blanket primary is one in which the voter can vote for candidates
of more than one party. Until 2000, a few states, including Alaska, California, and
Washington, had blanket primaries. In 2000, however, the United States Supreme Court
abolished the blanket primary. The Court ruled that the blanket primary violated political
parties’ First Amendment right of association. Because the nominees represent the party,
party members—not the general
electorate—should have the right
to choose the party’s nominee.^9Run-off Primary. Some states
have a two-primary system. If no
candidate receives a majority of
the votes in the first primary, the
top two candidates must com-
pete in another primary, called a
run-off primary.
The “Top-Two” Primary.
Louisiana has long used a spe-
cial type of primary for filling
some offices. Under the system,
all candidates appear on a single
ballot. A party cannot prevent
a candidate from appearing on
the primary ballot—an insurgent
Republican, for example, could
appear on the ballot alongside
the party-supported Republican.Four Republican presidential candidates were still in the running by February
- From left to right, they were Texas representative Ron Paul, former Pennsylvania
senator Rick Santorum, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, and former Speaker
of the House Newt Gingrich. (Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images). - California Democratic Party v.
Jones, 530 U.S. 567 (2000).
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