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A primary election is an ballot used either to narrow the field of candidates for a given elective office or to decide the nominees for political parties in advance of a general election. Master elections can take several unlike forms. In a partisan primary, voters select a candidate to exist a political party's nominee for a given role in the corresponding general election. Nonpartisan primaries are used to narrow the field of candidates for nonpartisan offices in advance of a general election. The terms of participation (eastward.chiliad., whether only registered party members can vote in a party'due south chief) in chief elections can vary past jurisdiction, political party, and the function or offices up for election. The methods employed to determine the outcome of the primary (east.g., plurality systems, majority systems, top-ii systems, etc.) can besides vary by jurisdiction.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • In Pennsylvania, only registered party members can participate in a political party's master election.

  • In Pennsylvania, the winner of a primary election is the candidate who receives the greatest number of votes, even if he or she does non win an outright majority of votes cast.

    • See the sections below for full general information on the utilize of master elections in the United States and specific information on the types of primaries held in Pennsylvania:

    1. Background: This section outlines the different types of primary ballot participation models used in the U.s.a., including open up primaries, airtight primaries, semi-airtight primaries, and top-2 primaries. This section likewise details the various methods employed to determine the outcomes of primary elections.
    2. Principal election systems used in Pennsylvania: This section details the primary election systems employed in Pennsylvania, including primaries for congressional and state-level offices (due east.g., country legislative seats, state executive offices, etc).
    3. State legislation: This sections lists state legislation relevant to primary election policy in Pennsylvania.

    To acquire more about the party primaries that will accept place in Pennsylvania on May 17, 2022, click the links below.

    Democratic Party For more data most Autonomous primaries in 2022, click here.
    Republican Party For more information about Republican primaries in 2022, click hither.

    Background

    In general, in that location are two broad criteria past which primary elections can vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction:

    1. Terms of participation: In jurisdictions that conduct partisan primaries, who can vote in a political party's primary? Is participation express to registered political party members, or tin can other eligible voters (such every bit unaffiliated voters or voters belonging to other parties) participate? In full general, there are 3 basic types of primary election participation models: open primaries, closed primaries, and semi-closed primaries.
    2. Methods for determining the election's outcome: What share of the total votes cast does a candidate have to receive in order to advance to the general election? Methods for determining principal election outcomes include plurality voting systems, majority voting systems, and tiptop-two primaries.

    For more consummate data on these criteria, click "[Show more]" below.

    Testify more

    Terms of participation

    The terms of participation in primary elections vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction (and, sometimes, within a jurisdiction; unlike political parties may enforce dissimilar participation criteria). In full general, there are 3 basic master ballot participation models used in the United states:

    1. Open primaries: An open primary is whatsoever master election in which a voter either does not accept to formally affiliate with a political party in guild to vote in its master or tin can declare his or her amalgamation with a party at the polls on the day of the primary even if the voter was previously affiliated with a different party.[1] [2]
    2. Closed primaries: A airtight primary is any principal election in which a voter must affiliate formally with a political party in accelerate in order to participate in that party'due south chief.[1] [two]
    3. Semi-closed primaries: A semi-closed primary is i in which previously unaffiliated voters tin can participate in the primary of their choosing. Voters who previously affiliated with a political political party who did not change their affiliations in advance cannot vote in some other political party's primary.[1] [2]

    Methods for determining the ballot'due south result

    Methods for tallying votes to determine a principal election's issue include the following:

    1. Plurality voting system: In plurality systems, the candidate who wins the largest share of the vote wins the election. The candidate demand not win an outright bulk to be elected. These systems are sometimes referred to as first-past-the-post or winner-have-all.[3] [four]
    2. Majority voting system: In majority systems, a candidate must win more than 50 pct of the vote in order to win the election. In the result that no candidate wins an outright majority, a runoff election is held betwixt the top two vote-getters. For this reason, bulk systems are sometimes referred to as two-circular systems. Ranked-option voting is a specific type of majority voting system that may also be used in primary elections.[3] [4]
    3. Top-two primaries: A top-two primary is one in which all candidates are listed on the aforementioned principal election ballot; the top two vote-getters, regardless of their partisan affiliations, advance to the general election. Consequently, information technology is possible that two candidates belonging to the same political political party could win in a top-ii main and face off in the full general ballot. A elevation-two primary should non be confused with a blanket primary. In a blanket chief, all candidates are listed on the aforementioned primary ballot; the top vote-getter from each party participating in the chief advances to the full general election.[2] [5] [half dozen]

    Primary election systems used in Pennsylvania

    Congressional and state-level elections

    In 22 states, at least one political party utilizes open primaries to nominate partisan candidates for congressional and state-level (e.g. country legislators, governors, etc.) offices. In xv states, at least ane party utilizes closed primaries to nominate partisan candidates for these offices. In 14 states, at to the lowest degree 1 party utilizes semi-closed primaries. In 2 (California and Washington), top-ii primaries are utilized.[7]

    Pennsylvania law stipulates that parties behave closed primaries, pregnant but registered political party members can participate in a political party'southward primary election. Winners in main contests are determined by plurality vote.[1] [2] [eight] [9]

    The tabular array below lists Pennsylvania offices for which parties must comport primary elections to nominate their candidates.

    Elective offices for which parties must bear primaries to nominate general ballot candidates
    Office Number of seats
    Governor of Pennsylvania 1
    Pennsylvania Attorney General 1
    Pennsylvania Treasurer 1
    Pennsylvania State Accountant 1
    State legislators 253
    United States Representatives xviii
    U.s.a. Senators two

    State legislation and ballot measures

    Primary systems legislation

    The post-obit is a list of recent master election systems bills that accept been introduced in or passed by the Pennsylvania state legislature. To learn more about each of these bills, click the neb title. This data is provided past BillTrack50 and LegiScan.

    Note: Due to the nature of the sorting process used to generate this list, some results may non exist relevant to the topic. If no bills are displayed beneath, no legislation pertaining to this topic has been introduced in the legislature recently.

    Primary systems ballot measures

    See also: Elections and campaigns on the ballot and List of Pennsylvania ballot measures

    Since 2017, Ballotpedia has tracked no election measures relating to primary elections in Pennsylvania.

    See also

    • Electoral systems in Pennsylvania
    • Voting in Pennsylvania
    • Chief ballot

    External links

    • National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Principal Ballot Types"
    • FairVote, "Primaries"

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 1.0 one.1 1.2 ane.three FairVote, "Who Can Vote in Congressional Primaries," accessed August 17, 2017
    2. ↑ two.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.four National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Principal Election Types," July 21, 2016
    3. ↑ 3.0 3.one FairVote, "Electoral Systems," accessed July 7, 2017
    4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Georgetown University, "Electoral Systems," accessed July vii, 2017
    5. ↑ Encyclopedia Brittanica, "Chief Election," accessed Jan xiii, 2016
    6. ↑ Louisiana utilizes a two-round electoral system in which the names of all eligible candidates are printed on the general election ballot. If a candidate wins more than 50 percentage of the vote in the general ballot, he or she is elected. If no candidate wins an outright bulk in the general election, a runoff election is held between the elevation two vote-getters. This system is sometimes referred to as a jungle master or majority electoral arrangement. In Nebraska'southward nonpartisan state legislature employs a top-two main system in which the pinnacle two vote-getters in the master face up off in the general election.
    7. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named airtight
    8. ↑ Pennsylvania Legislature, "Section 1725," accessed August 26, 2017

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