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Party labels
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Party labels identify the political party affiliation of candidates. The term most often refers to text included on official ballots showing the political party affiliation of candidates, but can also refer to labels on candidate lists, voter guides, or other election information sources.
Party labels appear according to different standards, requirements, and systems that vary across states and offices. Depending on the state and elective office, party labels can indicate that a candidate was nominated by a political party through a caucus, a primary election, a signature petition process exclusive to registered members of the party, or some other nominating process. Under other candidate filing rules, party labels can be chosen by candidates regardless of the nomination or ballot access process.
In some systems, candidates can run as and be labeled as affiliated with multiple parties, a practice called cross-filing. For example, some candidates in Pennsylvania run in both the Democratic and Republican primaries for the same office, win both primaries, and appear on the general election ballot labeled as both Democratic and Republican.
Requirements for party labels and/or party nomination can also vary in the same state based on the size of the political party or other criteria. For example, there are sometimes different rules for the Democratic and Republican parties than for other parties with fewer registered members. Some states only allow party labels for a limited number of officially recognized parties, while others allow more leeway to candidates in determining their political party designations.
Party labels play a major role in distinguishing partisan elections from nonpartisan elections. Partisan elections are elections for which the ballot contains labels showing the parties with which candidates are affiliated. Nonpartisan elections are elections for which the ballot does not contain party labels identifying any political parties with which the candidates are affiliated or by which the candidates are nominated.
Partisan and nonpartisan elections in the U.S.
Nonpartisan elections without party labels are common among municipal and county offices. In addition, over 90% of school boards are elected without any party labels on the ballot describing the candidates. Nonpartisan elections for judges are also common.[1][2]
Federal and state elections
Most elected federal and state offices are elected in partisan elections, which means party labels for candidates affiliated with a political party are displayed on the ballot.
The state of Nebraska is the only state to elect its state legislators through nonpartisan elections. The Nebraska State Senate is unicameral. To learn more about partisan affiliation in the Nebraska State Senate, see this article.[3]
School board elections
Across the country, there are 13,187 public school districts governed by a total of 83,183 school board members. They are elected directly by voters except for a small handful of exceptions who are appointed.
As of July 2025, over 85% of school boards are elected without any party labels on the ballot identifying the candidates' affiliation with a political party. State laws in five states containing 1,169 school districts (9%) provide for party labels on the ballot for school board elections. In five states containing 554 districts (4%), state laws effectively provide for both the option of including or not including party labels on the ballot for school board elections. In the remaining states with elected local school board members, state law provides for school board elections without the inclusion of party labels on the ballot.
Elections in which party labels are included on the ballot are referred to as partisan elections. Elections in which party labels are not included on the ballot are referred to as nonpartisan elections.
The state laws of 40 states containing 11,472 school districts provide for school board elections without party labels identifying the affiliation of candidates listed on the ballot (nonpartisan elections).
State laws of five states provide for school board elections with party labels identifying the affiliation of candidates listed on the ballot (partisan elections):
State laws of five states containing 554 school districts effectively provide both options depending on the district. The details and the number of districts that fall in each category vary among the states. Those five states are:
Judicial elections
- See also: Nonpartisan election of judges
As of April 2025, 13 states used nonpartisan elections at the state supreme court level, and 19 states used this selection method for at least one type of court below the supreme court level.
See also
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School board election rules: |
School board election coverage: |
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Footnotes
