Open primaries in the United States

[2] The arguments for open primaries are that voters can make independent choices, building consensus that the electoral process is not splintered or undermined by the presence of multiple political parties.

First, the open primary allows nonpartisan or independent voters to participate in the nominating process.

With the open primary, some argue, more voters become independent and are less likely to participate in the nominating or election processes.

There is, however, little evidence of manipulation actually occurring,[citation needed] but there have been occasions when independent voters have an effect on the outcome of a partisan primary.

These opponents believe that the open primary law violates their freedom of association, because it forces them to allow outsiders to select their candidates.

An opposing view is that political parties are not mentioned in the U.S. Constitution in any language, but voting rights of the individual are clearly defined.

First, in NAACP v. Alabama, the court said that "It is beyond debate that freedom to engage in association for the advancement of beliefs and ideas is an inseparable aspect of the "liberty" assured by the Due Process Clause of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment, which embraces freedom of speech.

In Gitlow v. New York, Justice Sanford states that "[f]or present purposes we may and do assume that freedom of speech and of the press-which are protected by the First Amendment from abridgment by Congress-are among the fundamental personal rights and 'liberties' protected by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment from impairment by the States.

The problem with this closed primary law was that it prevented the Republican Party from allowing independent "registered voters not affiliated with any party to vote in Republican primaries for federal and statewide offices".

[8] Since the Republican Party of Connecticut was not able to choose who it wanted to vote in the primary, the United States Supreme Court, in a 5–4 decision, stated that the closed primary law in Connecticut "impermissibly burdens the right of the Party and its members protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments".

[8] On October 1, 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that the Virginia mandatory open primary statute was unconstitutional as applied to the Republicans because it imposed a burden on their freedom to associate under the First Amendment, although it did not explicitly rule on the question of whether an open primary law was in general unconstitutional as a burden on association.

If unaffiliated voters are allowed to vote, it is subject to the political parties' decision in each election cycle.

Washington had a blanket primary system that allowed every voter to choose a candidate of any party for each position.

Although Secretary of State Sam Reed advocated the blanket, non-partisan system, on April 1, 2004, the Governor used the line-item veto to activate the Open primary instead.

Gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi's 2008 stated preference was for the "GOP Party", although he is a prominent Republican.

[22] Louisiana primary is the common term for top-two runoff voting system where all candidates for the same office appear together on the ballot in the general election, and if none win a simple majority, a runoff or second round election for the two top candidates is held a short time later to determine the winner.