primary election, Electoral device for choosing candidates for public office. The formal primary system is peculiar to the U.S., where it came into widespread use in the early 20th century. Most U.S. states use it for elections to statewide offices and to the national presidency. In presidential elections, delegates are selected to attend a national convention, where they vote for the candidate to whom they are pledged. A closed primary is restricted to party members. In an open primary, all voters in the district may participate, but they may vote in only one party’s primary. A so-called nonpartisan “top-two” system has been adopted in Washington state and California, in which voters may cast a ballot for one person per office, with the top-two vote getters (irrespective of party) facing off in the general election. Names can be placed on a ballot by an eligible citizen’s declaration of candidacy, by nomination at a pre-primary convention, or by a petition signed by a required number of voters. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, political parties in some countries (e.g., the United Kingdom and Israel) adopted similar procedures for the election of the national party leader. See also electoral system; party system.
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