What Is A "Primary"?

Nixon does not have to light primaries, since his position is almost impregnable in his own party, but some of the Democrats have been using them as a means of building up their popular appeal, and Senator Humphrey's defeat in the West Virginian primary seems to have knocked him out of the race. What is a "primary?" Primary elections are used in some, not all, American states to sort out candidates for an election within the parties. They were introduced in the early years of the century by people who wanted to lake this choice out of the hands of the machine politicians, and give it back to the people. That was the intention, but the effects have often been quite different. It is a peculiarly American innovation—it is hard to imagine the Labour Party for instance, being very happy about having Mr Holloway's successor as Labour candidate selected by a poll of Heretaunga citizens instead of by the party's own selection committee. Yet the American way has some advantages, for it avoids the worst excesses of "boss" control of a party, rarely seen here, and gives the ordinary party supporters some say in who their candidate is to be. Primary elections in the U.S., however, are closely regulated by the stale, a very unusual instance of interference by the state in the affairs of an unofficial association. However, most Americans feel that the importance of the affair justifies the interference. Each state makes its own rules as to when and how the primaries are held, and the rules vary from state is between "open" and "closed" primaries. In the latter, which most states have, people may vote for candidates for nomination in one party only, and they must have registered as party members some time in advance. When they vote, therefore, they are given a ballot paper for one party only. However, in some states, no party test is made and you are given two ballot papers and can choose which one you will vote with. This is an "open" primary, and there is nothing to stop, for instance, Republicans voting in the Democratic primary to spoil the chances of some Democrat they particularly dislike. This may have happened at Wisconson, one of the states with the open primary, where it is thought that many Republicans voted, in the Democratic primary against Senator Humphrey, thereby ensuring victory for Senator Kennedy. This is even more likely since Nixon was unopposed on the Republican ballot, so that no Republican primary was really necessary at all.