In an open primary

In an open primary

• A. Anyone can vote for anyone for office.
• B. Only members of a party can vote for a nominee.
• C. Any voter may vote for any party, but only one party.
• D. Voters meet in person and take several ballots to find a consensus candidate.

Answer: (C)

Open primaries let voters participate without declaring party affiliation and choose which party’s primary ballot to vote in. You can vote for any party, but you typically may vote in only one party’s primary in a given election. This setup lets unaffiliated or crossover voters influence which candidate advances, while still restricting participation to a single party’s nomination in that race. The first description, where anyone can vote for anyone for office, overstates what a primary does since it’s about selecting a party’s nominee, not voting for any candidate across parties. The second description, restricting voting to party members, describes a closed primary, not an open one. The final description, with in-person meetings and multiple ballots to reach a consensus, sounds like a caucus, not a primary. So the statement that fits an open primary is that any voter may vote for any party, but only one party.

Open primaries let voters participate without declaring party affiliation and choose which party’s primary ballot to vote in. You can vote for any party, but you typically may vote in only one party’s primary in a given election. This setup lets unaffiliated or crossover voters influence which candidate advances, while still restricting participation to a single party’s nomination in that race.

The first description, where anyone can vote for anyone for office, overstates what a primary does since it’s about selecting a party’s nominee, not voting for any candidate across parties. The second description, restricting voting to party members, describes a closed primary, not an open one. The final description, with in-person meetings and multiple ballots to reach a consensus, sounds like a caucus, not a primary. So the statement that fits an open primary is that any voter may vote for any party, but only one party.