Voting in the 2016 primary elections

In 2016, citizens elected candidates to serve in a wide variety of federal, state, and local offices. Voters elected Donald Trump president to succeed the term-limited incumbent, Barack Obama. All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives and 34 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate were up for election. Voters in 23 states elected 93 state executive officials, including governors, secretaries of state, attorneys general and more. Seats in 86 of the country's 99 state legislative chambers were up for grabs. Municipal officials, including city councillors and mayors, were up for election in 46 of the nation's 100 largest cities. Many candidates for state and local judicial offices, as well as for school boards, graced the ballots, along with state and local ballot measures.

Every election year, this process begins with primary elections and caucuses. Parties use primaries and caucuses to select their candidates for the general election. In order to participate in the primary process, citizens must be registered to vote. Use the tabs below to learn more about voter registration and participation requirements for the 2016 primaries.

Presidential primaries and caucuses

Hover over the terms below to display definitions.

Ballot access laws

Primary election

Caucus

Delegate

A political party formally nominates its presidential candidate at a national nominating convention. At this convention, state delegates select the party's nominee. Prior to the nominating convention, the states conduct presidential preference primaries or caucuses. Generally speaking, only state-recognized parties — such as the Democratic Party and the Republican Party — conduct primaries and caucuses. These elections measure voter preference for the various candidates and help determine which delegates will be sent to the national nominating convention.

The Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee, the governing bodies of the nation's two major parties, establish their own guidelines for the presidential nomination process. State-level affiliates of the parties also have some say in determining rules and provisions in their own states. Individuals interested in learning more about the nomination process should contact the political parties themselves for full details.

The table below summarizes registration and participation requirements for presidential primaries and caucuses in 2016.

Note: Caucuses are administered by the political parties with minimal state involvement. As such, parties have the latitude to set their own registration and participation requirements for caucus-goers.

State primaries

The states also conducted primaries to select candidates for congressional, state executive and state legislative offices. In some states, these primaries are held at the same time as presidential primaries; in others, the two primaries occur on different days. The table below summarizes registration and participation requirements for state primaries in 2016.

See also

• 

  2016 coverage on Ballotpedia

• 

  Election policy on Ballotpedia

• 

  Presidential election, 2016

• United States Congress elections, 2016
• State executive official elections, 2016
• State legislative elections, 2016
• Ballotpedia:Calendar
• Voting in the 2016 general elections
• Early voting
• Absentee voting
• Voter identification laws by state
• Same-day voter registration
• Voting policies in the United States