 An election held before the general election  Voters choose members of their political party to run for public office in the general election  Candidates want to be nominated in the primary  Only one can run in the general election

 The form most often used  Party members who wish to run have to have their names put on the ballot, voters choose the candidate  2 types of direct primaries  Open- ballots for all the candidates, voters choose who they want  Closed- voters declare in advance which party they want to vote for

 Members of a political party elect delegates to party conventions  Presidential elections/conventions  Delegates do the selecting instead of the voters

 Are not connected to a political party  Used for smaller local elections  Voters consider a candidate’s qualifications not based on the party

 Select delegates for the national convention  Some states use this, not all  Delegates promise to support a certain candidate  Vote for the delegate is the same as voting for the candidate that represents them