Presidential Primary Process

The presidential primary process can be more complex than it appears. The primary process is a way for the two main parties, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, to select their official nominee for the general presidential election from a group of candidates. Each party has their own way of selecting their presidential nominee and their own convention, where the official nominee is announced. Each year states are holding these primary elections and caucuses sooner and sooner in hope of increasing influence in the nomination process; this has created problems and less known candidates are less likely to be nominated. All states and U.S territories hold either a primary election or caucus for both the Democratic Party and the GOP. The state can choose

An open primary election works just like any other election; voters go and cast a ballot at a polling location for any party. In contrast, a voter in a closed primary may only cast a ballot for his or her affiliated party. For example, a republican in Florida, which has a closed primary, can only cast a ballot for the Republican Party. There is a small number of states that will allow independents cast a ballot for either party, these primaries are called semi-closed primaries. Some states still hold caucuses today. In a caucus people go to their affiliated party 's meeting place where people physically divide up into groups that correspond to the candidate that they support. The goal of both primaries and caucuses are the same: to narrow down a group of candidates. During each election year the GOP and Democratic Party hold their