Theblanket primary is a system used for selectingpolitical party candidates in aprimary election, used inArgentina and historically in theUnited States. In a blanket primary, voters may pick one candidate for each office without regard to party lines; for instance, a voter might select aDemocratic candidate for governor and aRepublican candidate for senator. In a traditional blanket primary the candidates with the highest number of votes for each officein each party advance to the general election, as the respective party's nominee. Blanket primaries differ fromopen primaries – in open primaries voters may pick candidates regardless of their own party registration, but may only choose among candidates from a single party of the voter's choice. A blanket primary gives registered voters maximum choice in selecting candidates among those systems that separate primary from general elections. Blanket primary elections also serve as polls for the general elections, revealing the portion of votes that the candidates are expected to receive in them.[1]
Compared to other primary systems, the blanket primary is less restrictive for voters because it does not limit them to selecting from only one party's candidates. Mainstream political parties, however, may see this as a disadvantage because it discourages party loyalty, especially among moderate voters who do not identify strongly with any party. The system also has potential fortactical voting: Voters opposed to one party might disingenuously choose a weaker candidate from that party, setting the candidate up to lose in thegeneral election.
InArgentina, nationwide blanket primaries, calledPASO (Spanish:Primarias Abiertas Simultáneas y Obligatorias, meaning "Simultaneous and mandatory open primaries"), were established for presidential and legislative elections in 2009 by Law 26,571.
All parties must take part in these blanket primaries, including both parties with internal factions and parties with a single candidate list. Citizens may vote for any candidate of any party, but may only cast a single vote for each office.
Parties must also get 1.5% or higher of the vote to be allowed to run in the general election. Furthermore, each party should have at least a membership of 0.4% of the electoral roll of its respective district to continue operating. In 2011, 149 minor parties were either closed, or were not allowed to run in specific provinces where they did not meet the requirements.[2] This was rejected by the small opposition parties, which charged that these reforms could stymy minor parties and the formation of new ones.[3][4]
Private funding for political campaigns is not allowed. All parties are granted free airtime during the political campaign to advertisements of a fixed time duration.
The most recent exercise was the2023 Argentine primary elections.
In 2000 theSupreme Court of the United States struck downCalifornia's blanket primary inCalifornia Democratic Party v. Jones. Similar systems used byWashington andAlaska were also struck down in subsequent Supreme Court cases.
The blanket primary survives in a different form, known as thejungle primary, inCalifornia,Washington, andAlaska.In response to the aforementioned Supreme Court decision, Washington state voters passedInitiative 872 in 2004 to adopt a "top two" jungle primary; while lower courts, following the ruling inCalifornia Democratic Party v. Jones, struck down the initiative, the Supreme Court ruled on March 18, 2008 inWashington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party et al. that Initiative 872 was at least facially constitutional and could go into effect.[5]