Open primary

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An open primary is a type of primary election where voters do not have to formally affiliate with a political party in advance in order to vote in its primary. In some cases, voters can declare their affiliation with a party at the polls on the day of the primary, even if those voters were previously affiliated with a different party.

HIGHLIGHTS

In 20 states, at least one political party conducts open primaries for congressional and state-level offices.

For information on voter participation rules for the 2024 presidential primaries and caucuses, see below.

Top-two primary systems, such as those utilized in California, Nebraska, and Washington, and variations of those systems, such as the top-four system used in Alaska and the majority-vote system used in Louisiana, are sometimes classified as open primary systems because voter participation in such primaries is not tied to partisan affiliation. For the purposes of this article, a these systems are considered to be a separate entity. For more information about top-two primaries and their variations, see this article.

Usage

Congressional and state-level elections

In 20 states, at least one political party conducts open primaries for congressional and state-level offices. The map and table below identify states in which at least one political party uses open primaries for congressional and state-level elections. Hover over a state for additional details.

States where at least one political party uses open primaries for congressional and state-level elections
State	Open primaries	Notes
Alabama	Yes	In Alabama, a voter may participate in any party's primary by declaring his or her preference for that party at the polls on the day of the primary election.
Arkansas	Yes	N/A
Georgia	Yes	N/A
Hawaii	Yes	N/A
Illinois	Yes	A voter must publicly state his or her affiliation at the polling place in order to vote in a party's primary.
Indiana	Yes	Section 3-10-1-6 of the Indiana Code stipulates that, in order to participate in a party's primary, a voter must have either voted for a majority of that party's nominees in the last general election or must intend to vote for a majority of the party's nominees in the upcoming general election. According to FairVote, which classifies Indiana as an open primary state, this provision of the law is unenforceable due to the nature of secret balloting.
Iowa	Yes	Section 43.38 of the Iowa Code stipulates that only registered party members can vote in a party's primary. Section 43.42 of the Iowa Code stipulates that a voter may change his or her party affiliation at the polls on primary election day and vote in the primary of a party other than the one to which he or she formerly belonged.
Michigan	Yes	N/A
Minnesota	Yes	N/A
Mississippi	Yes	N/A
Missouri	Yes	N/A
Montana	Yes	N/A
North Dakota	Yes	N/A
Ohio	Yes	According to FairVote, a voter can "choose a party affiliation on the day of the election." If a voter has previously participated in another party's primary, he or she can complete a statement at the polling place on the day of the election affirming that the voter is changing his or her partisan affiliation.
South Carolina	Yes	N/A
Tennessee	Yes	Section 2-7-115 of the Tennessee Code stipulates that a voter must either be registered with a political party or must declare his or her affiliation with the party at the polls on primary election day in order to vote in that party's primary.
Texas	Yes	N/A
Vermont	Yes	N/A
Virginia	Yes	N/A
Wisconsin	Yes	N/A

Presidential primaries and caucuses

2024 presidential primaries and caucuses

Ballotpedia is conducting research on presidential primaries and caucuses for the 2024 election. This section will be updated when the required information is available.

2020 presidential primaries and caucuses

The maps below detail voter participation rules for the Democratic and Republican parties in the 2020 presidential nominating process. Hover over a state to see additional information.

For information from previous presidential election cycles, click "[Show more]" below.

Show more

2016 presidential primaries and caucuses

In the 2016 presidential election cycle, political parties in 22 states utilized open primaries and/or caucuses as part of the presidential nominating process. The map below identifies states in which at least one political party utilized open primaries or caucuses as part of the presidential nominating process in 2016. Hover over a state for additional details.

States in which at least one political party utilized open primaries or caucuses for presidential nominating process, 2016
State	Open primaries or caucuses
Alabama	Yes
Arkansas	Yes
California	Yes (Democrats, American Independents, and Libertarians)
Georgia	Yes
Idaho	Yes (Democrats)
Illinois	Yes
Indiana	Yes
Michigan	Yes
Minnesota	Yes
Mississippi	Yes
Missouri	Yes
Montana	Yes
North Dakota	Yes
Ohio	Yes
South Carolina	Yes
Tennessee	Yes
Texas	Yes
Utah	Yes (Democrats)
Vermont	Yes
Virginia	Yes
Washington	Yes (Democrats)
Wisconsin	Yes

Support and opposition

The following quotes briefly summarize arguments for and against open primaries. For detailed support and opposition arguments from a variety of sources, see this page Arguments for and against closed primaries.

Arguments for and against closed primaries
Support	Opposition
"Political parties at every level of government choose their nominees through primaries. That's the most important decision a party can make—and an organization's most important decisions should be made by members of that organization. Joining a political party in the United States is a pretty simple procedure. ... Allowing Independents and Republicans to select the Democrats' next nominees, or some other combination, is a good way to destroy a party and its meaning." -Seth Masket, University of Denver and the Pacific Standard (2018)	"We have had primary elections to select nominees for general elections at the local, state and federal level for more than a century. They began as an alternative to having party bosses at each level simply name the candidates they wanted. As the system has evolved, however, primaries have come to be dominated by ideological partisans who please the more agenda-driven elements in either party who are the most likely to participate in primaries. There is comparatively little incentive to reach out to voters who might fall somewhere between the two parties." -Ron Elving, NPR (2022)

Recent legislation related to primaries

The table below includes state legislation related to primaries introduced in or carried over to the current year's legislative session.

Bills are organized alphabetically, first by state and then by bill number. The table displays up to 100 results by default. To view additional results, use the arrows in the upper-right corner of the table. For more information about a particular bill, click the bill number. This will open a separate page with additional information.

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See also

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

Footnotes

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