Primary election

Primary elections or often just primaries, are the process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election, with the goal of narrowing the field of candidates. Depending on the country and administrative divisions within the country, voters might consist of the general public in what is called an open primary, or the members of a political party in what is called a closed primary. In addition to these, there other variants on primaries (which are discussed below) that are used by many countries holding elections throughout the world. The origins of primary elections can be traced to the progressive movement in the United States, which aimed to take the power of candidate nomination from party leaders to the people. However, political parties control the method of nomination of candidates for office in the name of the party, and other methods of selecting candidates include caucuses, conventions, and nomination meetings.