What is a non-partisan primary?

A non-partisan primary is open to all candidates and voters, regardless of party. Depending on state law, the top two or more candidates advance to the general election. Washington and California have non-partisan primaries in which the top two finishers advance to the general election. Alaska has a non-partisan primary in which the top four finishers advance and it utilizes ranked choice voting in the ensuing general election.

Why is this issue important?

Primaries usually determine which candidates appear on the general election ballot. Partisan primaries are financed by the public but controlled by the parties themselves.

Status in Connecticut

Connecticut has a system of partisan primaries.  The primaries are run by the two major parties but paid for by the public. State party conventions select party nominees over 90% of the time. In the less than 10% of races in which primaries are held, the parties exclude the 41% of state voters who aren’t affiliated with a party even though the state pays for the primaries.

Important questions states, communities and citizens should ask

1. Do the major parties have too much control over publicly funded elections and, as a result, over who gets to appear on the general election ballot?
2. What’s more important, the right of parties to choose their own candidates in publicly funded primaries, or the right of voters to participate in the elections they fund?
3. Do closed, partisan primaries produce more extreme candidates? If so, is that bad?
4. If only the top two candidates from a non-partisan primary advance to the general election as in California and Washington State, does it actually reduce competition by making it harder for other candidates to get on the general election ballot?