How to vote in primaries?

A primary election is an election used either to narrow the field of candidates for a given elective office or to determine the nominees for political parties in advance of a general election. Primary elections can take several different forms. In a partisan primary, voters select a candidate to be a political party's nominee for a given office 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 (e.g., whether only registered party members can vote in a party's primary) in primary elections can vary by jurisdiction, political party, and the office or offices up for election. The methods employed to determine the outcome of the primary (e.g., plurality systems, majority systems, top-two systems, etc.) can also vary by jurisdiction.

See the sections below for general information on the use of primary elections in the United States and specific information on the types of primaries held in New Jersey:

In general, there are two broad criteria by which primary elections can vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction:

For more complete information on these criteria, click "[Show more]" below.

In 22 states, at least one political party utilizes open primaries to nominate partisan candidates for congressional and state-level (e.g. state legislators, governors, etc.) offices. In 15 states, at least one party utilizes closed primaries to nominate partisan candidates for these offices. In 14 states, at least one party utilizes semi-closed primaries. In two (California and Washington), top-two primaries are utilized.[7]

New Jersey state law provides for semi-closed primaries, meaning that a voter generally must be registered as a party member in order to participate in that party's primary. A previously unaffiliated voter can participate in the primary of his or her choice by affiliating with that party at the polls on the day of the election. Otherwise, a voter must indicate his or her party preference (e.g., via an updated voter registration) no later than the 55th day preceding the primary in order to vote in that party's primary. Winners in primary elections are determined via plurality vote.[1][2][8][9]

The table below lists New Jersey offices for which parties must conduct primary elections to nominate their candidates.

In New Jersey, county parties have the ability to select the placement of a candidate's name on the ballot in their respective counties. The selection of the candidate can be determined by a full vote of the county party committee or at the discretion of the county party chairperson. In counties that use the process, positions up for election are listed in rows with the candidates running for those positions listed in columns. Oftentimes, the candidate endorsed by the county party will appear in the leftmost column, known as the county line, with remaining candidates appearing in columns to the right.[10]

The following is a list of recent primary election systems bills that have been introduced in or passed by the New Jersey state legislature. To learn more about each of these bills, click the bill title. This information is provided by BillTrack50 and LegiScan.

Note: Due to the nature of the sorting process used to generate this list, some results may not be relevant to the topic. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation pertaining to this topic has been introduced in the legislature recently.

Since 2017, Ballotpedia has tracked no ballot measures relating to primary elections in New Jersey.

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For more information see NCSL's State Primary Types Table or NCSL's report, Primaries: More than One Way to Find a Party Nominee.

In general, a voter seeking to vote in a closed primary must first be a registered party member. Typically, the voter affiliates with a party on his or her voter registration application. This system deters “cross-over” voting by members of other parties. Independent or unaffiliated voters, by definition, are excluded from participating in the party nomination contests. This system generally contributes to a strong party organization.

In this system, state law permits political parties to choose whether to allow unaffiliated voters or voters not registered with the party to participate in their nominating contests before each election cycle. In this type of system, parties may let in unaffiliated voters, while still excluding members of opposing parties. This system gives the parties more flexibility from year-to-year about which voters to include. At the same time, it can create uncertainty about whether or not certain voters can participate in party primaries in a given year.

This system permits voters to cross party lines, but they must either publicly declare their ballot choice or their ballot selection may be regarded as a form of registration with the corresponding party. Iowa asks voters to choose a party on the state voter registration form, yet it allows a primary voter to publicly change party affiliation for purposes of voting on primary Election Day. Some state parties keep track of who votes in their primaries as a means to identify their backers.