2016 US Presidential Election - Primaries and Caucuses

What are Primaries? 

These are elections in each State within the two major parties, but usually paid for by the State and run by State election officials. Registered voters from each party vote to nominate one among the several candidates to represent the party in the presidential race.

Primaries may be closed or open. An open primary is a primary election that does not require voters to be affiliated with a political party in order to vote for candidates.

 Each voter cannot, however, participate in more than one primary.

 A closed primary does require party affiliation for voters. 

A third less common type of primary, the blanket primary, allows registered voters to participate in all primaries.

How do they pick the candidate?

While the winner of a party’s State Primary election is the candidate who gets the most votes, it is not a winner-takes-all. Each party has a certain number of delegates from that State who will be attending its national convention, where the final selection of the candidate happens. The percentage of votes won by a candidate in a State Primary translates into the percentage of delegates from that State who will vote for that candidate at the national convention

The caucuses

Caucuses are conducted by the political parties themselves with registered members of that party in a city, town or county gathering to express support for a candidate. The combined recommendations of a political party’s state Caucuses determine its nominees for State or national offices. 

The caucuses are part of a four-stage election of state delegates to send to the national convention of each party.

These delegates then officially nominate their national candidate.

The caucuses are held in 10 US states (out of 50) — Iowa, Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, North Dakota and Wyoming and

4 U.S. territories (American Samoa, Northern Marianas, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands

 In the remaining 40 states, primaries, a statewide process in which voters cast secret ballots, are used

The Iowa caucus

The Iowa caucus marks the start of the US presidential race. It’s the first time that voters get to have a say in the electioneering process of their parties. Registered voters will physically assemble in 1,681 precincts, including churches, libraries and other smaller venues, across the state Monday to vote for their candidate

The process

Republicans and Democrats have different processes for their respective caucuses.

Members need to be physically present at their respective precinct for the vote.

Republican Caucus
A standard secret ballot is held at the caucus sites and the total votes are tallied across the state. Once the votes are tallied for each of the precincts, and then each of the counties (99 in the case of Iowa), delegates are selected for the state.
Democratic Caucus
It is a more complicated and “grander” process. Instead of a secret vote, the attendees are supposed to physically assemble with other supporters of their candidate at designated spots. A head-count is then conducted. The atmosphere is almost like a carnival, with voters persuading others to join them. Those candidates who fail to gather 15 per cent of the attendees at the precinct are eliminated, and their voters are told to join the groups of other candidates.

What's the difference between a primary and a caucus?

There are several types of primary with different rules and methods used to win delegates.

"Open" primaries are open to all registered voters in that state, and they can can vote for any candidate.

A Republican voter can vote in the state's Democratic primary, and vice versa for example.

In a "closed" primary, only registered voters affiliated with each party in that state can vote.

In addition, there are also "semi-closed" primaries where voting is closed to registered members of the other party, but open to independents.

There are about a half-dozen states that do this, including key early voting New Hampshire.

Caucuses are a series of meetings in which voters show their support for candidates with an open show of hands.

Usually only registered voters, affiliated with that specific party, can take part.



Both parties hold primaries / caucuses on the same day (unless indicated)

1 Feb: Iowa Caucuses
9 Feb: New Hampshire Primary
20 Feb: Nevada Caucuses (Democratic), South Carolina Primary (Republican)
23 Feb: Nevada Caucuses (Republican)
27 Feb: South Carolina Primary (Democratic)
1 March - 'Super Tuesday': Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia Primaries; Alaska & Wyoming Caucuses (Republican), Colorado Caucuses (Democratic)
5 March: Kansas Caucuses, Louisiana Primary, Kentucky & Maine Caucuses (Republican), Nebraska Caucuses (Democratic)
6 March: Maine Caucuses (Democratic)
8 March: Hawaii & Idaho Caucuses (Republican), Idaho Primary (Republican), Michigan & Mississippi Primaries
15 March: Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio Primaries
Big states with lots of delegates up for grabs, especially where it's winner takes all. Also swing states where electorates are more moderate so there's potential for an establishment candidate to make a comeback.
22 March: Arizona Primary, Utah Caucuses, Idaho Caucuses (Democratic)
26 March: Alaska, Hawaii, Washington Caucuses (Democratic)
1 April: North Dakota Caucuses (Republican)
5 April: Wisconsin Primary
9 April: Wyoming Caucuses (Democratic)
19 April: New York Primary
26 April: Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island Primaries
3 May: Indiana Primary
10 May: West Virginia Primary, Nebraska Primary (Republican)
17 May: Oregon Primary, Kentucky Primary (Democratic)
24 May: Washington Primary (Republican)
7 June: California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota Primaries; North Dakota Caucuses (Democratic)
14 June: District of Columbia Primary (Democratic)
18-21 July: Republican National Convention
25-28 July: Democratic National Convention


The Iowa caucuses kick off the series of elections held in every state and overseas territory which ultimately determine who becomes each party's official presidential candidate.

The winners of each primary or caucus are awarded a number of party "delegates", who pledge to endorse that candidate at the party conventions in July 2016. Whoever has most delegates wins.

The winner of each primary collects a number of 'delegates' - party members with the power to vote for that candidate at the party conventions held in July, where candidates are formally confirmed.

The more state contests a candidate wins, the more delegates will be pledged to support them at the convention

The Republican candidate will need 1,237 delegates to win a majority, while the Democratic contender must secure 2,383