Blanket primary
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Ablanket 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, and fromtop-two primaries.[1][2]
Blanket primaries vs. top-two primaries
In top-two, and variations of top-two primaries, a designated number of candidates that receive the largest number of votes advance to the general election, regardless of their party affiliation. Consequently, it is possible that two or more candidates belonging to the same political party could win a top-two style 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 areballot-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 atop-two primary: In State A, three political parties areballot-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 January 2024.
In 1996,California voters approved aballot initiative,Proposition 198, establishing a blanket primary system for congressional and state-level primaries. The state'sDemocratic,Republican,Libertarian, andPeace 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 conductedclosed 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 theSupreme 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.[3][4]
Similar primary systems in place inWashington andAlaska were struck down by later court decisions.[4][3]
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
- ↑USLegal.com, "Blanket Primary Law and Legal Definition," accessed January 14, 2024
- ↑Encyclopedia Brittanica, "Primary Election," accessed January 14, 2024
- ↑3.03.1Supreme Court of the United States, "California Democratic Party v. Jones," accessed January 14, 2024
- ↑4.04.1Washington State House of Representatives, "HB 1750 Bill Anlysis," accessed January 14, 2024
