A firehouse primary, also called a firehouse caucus or "unassembled caucus", is a term sometimes used in the United States to describe a primary election run by a political party, not a government, to select the party's candidates for a later general election.
[4] A firehouse caucus was held in Idaho by the Democratic Party under similar circumstances in 2024.
[6] Systems similar to 'Firehouse primaries' are the norm for the selection of candidates for public office in political parties outside of the United States and some parts of South America.
It is unusual for there to be any particularly strict or explicit legislation governing how parties can select their candidates.
Most countries also do not have a system for voters to publicly register as identifying with a particular political party as in the United States which makes it more difficult to hold primaries separated by party affiliation.