Last time we began a discussion about primary elections and why it is important to participate.  To recap, in non-presidential years like 2026, primary turnout can dip into the teens. So informed voters who vote in the primaries can have an enormous impact on the selection of better candidates. The primaries are an opportunity to make a huge difference on your local, state, and federal governments. That said, do you know what kind of primary your state has?

Today we will look at the different types of primaries. They are:

• Open Primary: This means the primary election is open to any eligible voter, not just those registered to a specific political party.
• Closed Primary: This means that the primary election is closed to those not registered with that particular party. If one of your preferred candidates belongs to a political party that you are not registered with, then you won’t be able to vote for that candidate in the primary.
• Top-Two or Top-Four Primary: All voters vote on the same ballot that lists all candidates. The top two or four candidates, regardless of party, move on to the general election.
• Ranked Choice Voting Primary: Generally, in ranked choice voting, a candidate who earns more than 50% of the vote wins. If no candidate has won more than 50%, voters rank the candidates regardless of party in order of preference – first, second, third, and so on.  This method drew national attention when it propelled New York City’s Zohran Mamdani to a primary win. Critics argue that RCV is too complicated and expensive, that the person with the most votes can still lose, that one’s vote might not count if it’s “exhausted”, that it delays the results, and that it violates “one person, one vote”. Get informed about RCV and let your representatives know how you feel about it.
• Partially Closed/Open Primary: In a partially closed Primary, voters registered with a specific party are allowed to vote in that party’s primary election. However, in each primary election, parties are able to decide whether to allow independent and unaffiliated voters to vote in their partisan primary. In a partial open primary, voters, regardless of party registration, are allowed to choose the party primary in which they want to vote. The voter, however, must either change their party registration or publicly declare their ballot choice as different from their registered party.
• Open to Unaffiliated Primary: Voters who are unaffiliated or independent are able to choose in which party’s primary they want to vote, while voters already registered with a party are only allowed to vote in their party’s primary.

Although the federal voting age is 18, over 20 states allow citizens who are 17 but will be 18 by the general election to vote in the primary. Some states allow 17-year-olds to participate in local/state primaries only, while others allow 17- year-olds to vote in congressional primaries.

No matter which type of primary your state has, you are encouraged to view your candidate choices and learn something about them at https://ivoterguide.com/ BEFORE you vote. Committed Christians should vote for candidates that best reflect Biblical values!