WHAT IS THE PRIMARY ELECTION?

A Primary Election is an election held to narrow the number of candidates running for each office down to only one candidate per open seat per party (or a similar legally defined limit for nonpartisan contests, for more on this see the answer to question ‘When are primaries not based on party?’).

For example, if twelve people file to run for US Senate in North Carolina, not all twelve will make it on the ballot for the General Election. Instead, to cut down on the sheer number of choices on each ballot in the General Election, Primary Elections are held as preliminary, party based ‘rounds’ to decide who gets to be each party’s chosen candidate (or candidates) for a contest (or ’rounds’ not based on party to narrow the field to a limit in the case of nonpartisan contests).