A Primer on Primary Elections

Polls show that only 20 percent of Americans think Congress is doing a good job — yet in 2022 nearly 95% of Congressional incumbents were reelected. How is that dissatisfaction along with stagnation possible? It’s a combination of how congressional district lines are drawn (or, when redrawn in partisan fashion to favor one party or ideology, ‘gerrymandering’) and our system of Primary elections. Let’s focus on Primaries.

What are Primary Elections?

In the USA, the main focus of our politics is on the Presidential election that takes place every four years. It’s the elephant in the room. But there are many other elections that are equally if not more important to local voters. Chief among these are Primary elections. Primaries are the mechanism by which political parties select their candidates to be on the ballot for the General election. Despite being called an election, no one is ‘elected’ to office in a Primary; the nominee for a political party is chosen from competing candidates by members of their political party, or in some states by all voters (‘open primaries’). Winners of a Primary go on to compete against the nominees from opposing parties.

In order to win a political party nomination, a candidate must receive more votes than anyone. In some states, but not in NY, the winning candidate must receive over half of the votes cast – if they don’t, the top two candidates have a run-off election. States choose when and how to run their Primary elections; in New York state, Primaries are typically held in June with the General election on the first Tuesday in November. Primaries are held for all elected offices except when an election is uncontested.

Many people falsely assume that a political party leaders choose which candidates get on the ballot; voters determine who gets on the ballot by signing petitions. To get on a ballot, candidates must get registered voters from their party to sign petitions which are typically brought by campaign volunteers door-to-door in late February and March. There is a minimum number of signatures required for each office, typically hundreds in local (municipal) elections to tens of thousands in Federal (national) elections. In New York State, voters can only sign for a person in the political party in which they are registered and can only sign a petition for one candidate per office. Multiple candidates may meet the threshold of signatures to get on the ballot. In New York State, non-partisan county Boards of Elections certify the final petitions that meet the threshold of signatures and place candidates on ballots. Voters are encouraged to volunteer with candidates of their choice to help campaigns in the process of getting on ballots.

Primaries Matter

Primary elections have gained increasing importance, especially in districts considered ‘safe’ for one party. There are more safe districts now than ever before; competitive districts are an endangered species! Safe districts may naturally lean toward one party through geography or demographics, or may be created by state legislatures through gerrymandering (manipulating the boundaries of a district to favor one party). In a safe district, the Primary winner almost always wins the General election, giving the primaries outsized importance. It’s one reason why there’s so little turnover in Congress; incumbents in safe districts keep getting re-elected.

We are fortunate; our districts in upstate New York are very competitive and not considered ‘safe'. We live in an area that is considered ‘purple,’ not solely blue Democrat or red Republican, and our close elections show it. In 2022, Republican Marcus Molinaro narrowly beat Democrat Josh Riley by only 4,500 votes (out of 287,000) while Democrat Pat Ryan defeated Colin Schmidt by a slimmer margin of less than 4,000 votes (out of 267,000). Where we live, every vote really counts.

Primary Voters Do Not Represent the Majority of Us

Primary voters do not always represent the whole electorate; in most cases, they are a small minority of 20% of total voters who are interested in politics, their party, or both, and are known as the ‘party faithful.’ Many, but not all, primary voters represent extreme fringes of their party or have specific policy agendas they want legislated, from abortion to tax policy. As such, they do not mirror the majority of voters. Primary voters also have demographics that do not reflect the entire electorate; they tend to be older, more educated, wealthier, and white. While this is not necessarily a negative occurrence, it can leave room to create ‘class bias’ and lead to unfair political representation, underrepresenting poorer, non-white, and less educated voters. (Second Rated Democracy)

Low Turnout in Primaries Means More Extreme Candidates

In 2022, roughly 21 percent of registered voters voted in Primaries (Bipartisan Policy Center), meaning roughly four in five did not. In safe districts, that means a very small group - only one in five voters - is essentially selecting officials to represent everyone. That is minority rule, not majority rule. Low voter participation in Primary elections means that a smaller subset of voters plays an oversized role in our elections by determining who the rest of us get to vote for. To win a Primary, a candidate must engage with Primary voters, not the entire electorate, and will cater their policy and messages to the needs and wants of that base, often disregarding the opinions and needs of the wider public. Too often this results in candidates taking more extreme, polarized positions to satisfy the 20% who vote in Primaries rather than moderating their positions to appeal to the rest of the population, the 80% who do not vote in Primaries.

Primaries in Woodstock, NY

In the June 2022 Democratic primary, turnout in Woodstock hit 44% of registered Democrats compared to a Countywide average of 30%. While our turnout is about twice the national average for Primary elections and is something we should be proud of, it still means that roughly 55% of Woodstock Democratic voters did not vote. In addition no Republican or unaffiliated voters are allowed to vote in the Democratic Primary. It is clear that a minority of the total voters have an out-sized influence in who gets elected.

Summary

Low turnout among Primary voters leads to less fair representation and more partisan, polarizing elected officials who work to satisfy their small bases of Primary voters rather than working on behalf of the majority to represent everyone in their districts. Low Primary turnout also results in candidates who appeal primarily to wealthier, whiter, and more educated voters than the general population. One way to remedy this disproportional situation is to increase voter participation in Primary elections by increasing voter access through early voting, absentee ballots, and other means, as New York State has done. Other ideas being considered include ranked choice voting and open elections which are being tried in different municipalities and states such as Maine and Alaska, respectively, as a way to lessen the extreme choices and increase turnout in Primary elections. And, while these changes to the way Primaries are run may help ease an unbalanced system, ultimately it is up to the voters to engage themselves with candidates and issues in order to make informed choices.

There’s an excellent six-minute audio commentary on Primary Elections by Blair Horner of NYPIRG that was on WAMC-FM, June 24, 2024.

https://www.wamc.org/commentary-opinion/2024-06-24/new-yorkers-go-to-the-polls-some-of-them-anyway