1. Presidential Nominations

2. Primaries A direct primary is an intra-party election. It is held within a party to pick that party’s candidates for the general election. Closed Primary: A closed primary is a party nominating election in which only declared party members can vote. Open Primary: An open primary is a party nominating election in which any qualified voter can take part. The open primary is only found in 23 states.

3. Caucus A caucus is a group of like-minded people who meet to select the candidates they will support in an upcoming election. A caucus is a time for someone to really voice their opinion about a certain candidate and try and sway votes to their liking. Caucus’ are very time consuming and are not as popular as primaries.