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The blanket primary is a system used for selecting
political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
candidates in a
primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting 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. Depending on the ...
, used in
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
and historically in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. In a blanket primary, voters may pick one candidate for each office without regard to party lines; for instance, a voter might select a Democratic candidate for governor and a
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
candidate for senator. In a traditional blanket primary the candidates with the highest number of votes for each office ''in each party'' advance to the general election, as the respective party's nominee. Blanket primaries differ from
open primaries Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting 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. Depending on the ...
– in open primaries voters may pick candidates regardless of their own party registration, but may only choose among candidates from a single party of the voter's choice. A blanket primary gives registered voters maximum choice in selecting candidates among those systems that separate primary from general elections. Blanket primary elections also serve as polls for the general elections, revealing the portion of votes that the candidates are expected to receive in them.


Comparison

Compared to other primary systems, the blanket primary is less restrictive for voters because it does not limit them to selecting from only one party's candidates. Mainstream political parties, however, many see this as a disadvantage because it discourages party loyalty, especially among moderate voters who do not identify strongly with any party. The system also has potential for
tactical voting Strategic voting, also called tactical voting, sophisticated voting or insincere voting, occurs in voting systems when a voter votes for another candidate or party than their ''sincere preference'' to prevent an undesirable outcome. For example, ...
: Voters opposed to one party might disingenuously choose a weaker candidate from that party, setting the candidate up to lose in the
general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
.


Argentina

In
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, nationwide blanket primaries, called PASO ( es, Primarias Abiertas Simultáneas y Obligatorias, meaning "Simultaneous and mandatory open primaries"), were established for presidential and legislative elections in 2009 by the law 26,571. All parties must take part in these blanket primaries, including both the parties with internal factions and parties with a single candidate list. Citizens may vote for any candidate of any party, but may only cast a single vote. Parties must also get 1.5% or higher of the vote to be allowed to run in the general election. Furthermore, each party should have at least a membership of 0,4% of the electoral roll of its respective district to continue operating. In 2011, 149 minor parties were either closed, or were not allowed to run in specific provinces where they did not meet the requirements. This was rejected by the small opposition parties, which charged that these reforms could stymy minor parties and the formation of new ones. Private funding for political campaigns is not allowed. All parties are granted free airtime during the political campaign to advertisements of a fixed time duration.


United States

In 2000 the
Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
struck down
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
's blanket primary in ''
California Democratic Party v. Jones ''California Democratic Party v. Jones'', 530 U.S. 567 (2000), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court held that California's blanket primary violates a political party's First Amendment to the United ...
''. Similar systems used by
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
and
Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
were also struck down in subsequent Supreme Court cases. The traditional blanket primary survives in a different form, known as the ''nonpartisan'' blanket primary or jungle primary, in
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
and
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
. In response to the aforementioned Supreme Court decision, Washington state voters passed
Initiative 872 Initiative 872 was a 2004 ballot initiative that replaced the open primary being used in Washington state with a top-two nonpartisan blanket primary. It was challenged in court up to the US Supreme Court, which upheld the top-two primary in ''Wash ...
in 2004 to adopt the nonpartisan blanket primary; while lower courts, following the ruling in ''California Democratic Party v. Jones'', struck down the initiative, the Supreme Court ruled on March 18, 2008 in ''Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party et al.'' that Initiative 872 was at least facially constitutional and could go into effect.


References

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External links

*
Washington Secretary of State The secretary of state of Washington is an independently elected constitutional officer in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Washington. Fifteen individuals have held the office of Secretary of State since statehood. The ...

"History of the Blanket Primary in Washington"
Electoral systems Primary elections in the United States Elections in Argentina
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
2011 establishments in Argentina Presidency of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner