Blanket primary

Primary election
Primary elections by state
Closed primary
Open primary
Semi-closed primary
Top-two primary
Caucus
Election terms
Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker
Select a state from the menu below to learn more about its election administration.
AlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingSubmit

A blanket primary is a type of primary where all candidates are listed on the same ballot. Voters are allowed to choose one candidate per office regardless of the candidate's party affiliation. The top vote-getters from each party that is participating in the primary then advance to the general election. Blanket primaries differ from traditional primaries, which only allow voters to vote for candidates in one political party.

Blanket primaries vs. top-two primaries

Blanket primaries also differ from top-two primaries, which are sometimes referred to as a jungle primaries. In top-two and jungle primaries, the two candidates that receive the largest number of votes advance to the general election, regardless of their party affiliation. Consequently, it is possible that two candidates belonging to the same political party could win a top-two or jungle primary and face off in the general election. This scenario would be impossible in a blanket primary.

Example of a blanket primary: In State A, three political parties are ballot-qualified: Party A, Party B, and Party C. In a hypothetical gubernatorial primary, three candidates belonging to Party A, four belonging to party B, and two belonging to Party C run for their parties' nominations. The candidate from each party who received more votes than his or her fellow party members will advance to the general election. This means that one candidate from Party A, one from Party B, and one from Party C is guaranteed to advance to the general election.

Example of a top-two primary or jungle primary: In State A, three political parties are ballot-qualified: Party A, Party B, and Party C. In a hypothetical gubernatorial primary, three candidates belonging to Party A, four belonging to party B, and two belonging to Party C run for their parties' nominations. The two candidates receiving the greatest numbers of votes, regardless of their partisan affiliations, will advance to the general election. As such, it is possible that the top two candidates will belong to the same party.

Usage

Blanket primaries were not used in any U.S. state or locality as of June 2023.

In 1996, California voters approved a ballot initiative, Proposition 198, establishing a blanket primary system for congressional and state-level primaries. The state's Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, and Peace and Freedom parties filed suit against the law in federal court, arguing that the blanket primary system infringed upon the parties' associational rights by allowing voters unaffiliated with a political party to participate in that party's nomination processes (California's parties had previously conducted closed primaries in which only registered party members were permitted to participate). A federal district court and appellate court rejected this argument, and the case was appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States. On June 26, 2000, the high court voted 7-2 in favor of the plaintiffs, striking down California's blanket primary as unconstitutional.

Similar primary systems in place in Washington and Alaska were struck down by later court decisions.

See also

• Primary election
• Primary election types by state
• State primary election types
• Open primary
• Closed primary
• Semi-closed primary
• Top-two primary
• Top-four primary
• Blanket primary
• Jungle primary

Footnotes

‎