Editing Primary election (section)

== In Europe ==
{{More sources|date=June 2024}}
In [[Europe]], primaries are not organized by the public administration but by parties themselves, and legislation is mostly silent on primaries.{{Cn|date=June 2024}} However, parties may need government cooperation, particularly for open primaries.{{Contradictory inline|date=June 2024}}{{Cn|date=June 2024}}

Whereas closed primaries are rather common within many [[European countries]], a few political parties in Europe have opted for open primaries.{{Citation needed|date=June 2019}} Parties generally organize primaries to nominate the party leader ([[leadership election]]). The underlying reason for that is that most European countries are parliamentary democracies. National governments are derived from the majority in the Parliament, which means that the head of the government is generally the leader of the winning party. France is one exception to this rule.

Closed primaries happen in many European countries, while open primaries have so far only occurred in the socialist and social-democratic parties in Greece and Italy, whereas France's [[Socialist Party (France)|Socialist Party]] organised the first open primary in France in October 2011.

One of the more recent developments is organizing primaries on the European level. European parties that organized primaries so far were the [[European Green Party]] (EGP) and the [[Party of European Socialists]] (PES)

===European Union===
With a view to the [[Elections in the European Union|European elections]], many [[European political party|European political parties]] consider organizing a presidential primary.

Indeed, the [[Lisbon treaty]], which entered into force in December 2009, lays down that the outcome of elections to the [[European Parliament]] must be taken into account in selecting the President of the Commission; the Commission is in some respects the executive branch of the EU and so its president can be regarded as the EU prime minister. Parties are therefore encouraged to designate their candidates for [[President of the European Commission]] ahead of the next election in 2014, in order to allow voters to vote with a full knowledge of the facts. Various have suggested using primaries to elect these candidates.
* In April 2004, a former [[Conservative Party (UK)|British conservative]] [[Member of the European Parliament|MEP]], [[Tom Spencer (politician)|Tom Spencer]], advocated for American-style primaries in the [[European People's Party]]: "A series of primary elections would be held at two-week intervals in February and March 2009. The primaries would start in the five smallest countries and continue every two weeks until the big five voted in late March. To avoid swamping by the parties from the big countries, one could divide the number of votes cast for each candidate in each country by that country's voting weight in the Council of Ministers. Candidates for the post of president would have to declare by 1 January 2009."<ref>{{in lang|en}} Article by Tom Spencer in European Voice [http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/imported/american-style-primaries-would-breathe-life-into-european-elections/49725.aspx American-style primaries would breathe life into European elections] 22.04.2004</ref>
* In July 2013 [[European Green Party]] (EGP) announced that it would run a first ever European-wide [[open primary]] as the preparation for the [[2014 European Parliament election|European elections in 2014]].<ref>{{cite web |title=EGP announce innovative common campaign for European Elections |url=http://europeangreens.eu/news/egp-announce-innovative-common-campaign-european-elections |website=European Greens}}</ref> It was to be open to all citizens of the EU over the age of 16 who "supported green values"<ref>{{cite web |title=Green Party Candidate Selection Infogram |url=https://europeangreens.eu/sites/europeangreens.eu/files/imce/EN_square_primary_infographic.jpg}}</ref> They elected two transnational candidates who were to be the face of the common campaign of the European [[green parties]] united in the EGP, and who also were their candidates for [[European Commission President|European Commission president]].
* Following the defeat of the [[Party of European Socialists]] during the [[2009 European Parliament election|European elections of June 2009]], the PES Congress that took place in Prague in December 2009 made the decision that PES would designate its own candidate before the 2014 European elections. A Campaign for a PES primary<ref>{{in lang|en}} Website of the [http://campaignforapesprimary.blogspot.com/ Campaign for a PES primary]</ref> was then launched by PES supporters in June 2010, and it managed to convince the PES Council meeting in Warsaw in December 2010 to set up Working Group "Candidate 2014" in charge of proposing a procedure and timetable for a "democratic" and "transparent" designation process "bringing on board all our parties and all levels within the parties".<ref>{{in lang|en}} Resolution of the PES Council in Warsaw, [http://www.pes.org/sites/www.pes.org/files/adopted_pes_council_resolution_2_en.pdf A democratic and transparent process for designating the PES candidate for the European Commission Presidency] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927050556/http://www.pes.org/sites/www.pes.org/files/adopted_pes_council_resolution_2_en.pdf|date=27 September 2011}}, 2 December 2010</ref>

The European think-tank [[Notre Europe]] also suggested European parties should designate candidates for [[High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy|High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs]].<ref>{{cite web |date=October 2010 |title=Des réformes institutionnelles à la politisation – Ou comment l'Union européenne du Traité de Lisbonne peut intéresser ses citoyens |trans-title=From institutional reforms to politicization - Or how the European Union of the Lisbon Treaty can interest its citizens |url=http://www.notre-europe.eu/uploads/tx_publication/Bref18-GRN.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725110854/http://www.notre-europe.eu/uploads/tx_publication/Bref18-GRN.pdf |archive-date=25 July 2011 |access-date=6 February 2011 |publisher=Les Brefs de Notre Europe |language=fr}}</ref>

Finally, the European Parliament envisaged to introduce a requirement for internal democracy in the regulation on the statute of European political parties. European parties would therefore have to involve individual members in the major decisions such as designating the presidential candidate.<ref>{{in lang|en}} European Parliament press release, [http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/content/20110131STO12825/html/Constitutional-Affairs-Committee-discusses-pan-European-political-parties Constitutional Affairs Committee discusses pan-European political parties], 31 January 2011</ref>

=== Armenia ===
On 24 and 25 November 2007, the [[Armenian Revolutionary Federation]] political party conducted a non-binding [[Armenia]]-wide primary election. The party asked the people of their recommendation of who they should nominate as their candidate for the upcoming presidential election.<ref>{{cite news |date=3 December 2007 |title=ARF conducts 'Primaries' |edition=English Supplement |page=E1 |work=Horizon Armenian Weekly}} A Yerkir agency report from the Armenian capital, Yerevan.</ref>

===France===
The means by which the candidate of an established political party is selected has evolved. Until [[2012 French presidential election|2012]], none of the six [[President of the French Republic|Presidents]] elected through direct election faced a competitive internal election.

* The right didn't hold often primary elections to decide for their national candidates.
** In 2007, [[Nicolas Sarkozy]], President of the [[Union for a Popular Movement|UMP]], organized an approval "primary" without any opponent. He won by 98% and made his candidacy speech thereafter.
** In 2016, [[The Republicans (France)|The Republicans]] held, on 20 and 27 November, primaries to decide of their presidential candidate for [[2017 French presidential election|2017]].
* On the left, however, the [[Socialist Party (France)|Socialist Party]] of [[François Mitterrand]] has been plagued by internal divisions since the latter departed from politics. Rather than forming a new party, which is the habit on the right-wing, the party started to elect its nominee internally.
** A first try in [[1995 French presidential election|1995]]: [[Lionel Jospin]] won the nomination three months before the election. He lost in the run-off to [[Jacques Chirac]].
** The idea made progress as the 2007 race approached, once the [[2005 French European Constitution referendum|referendum on a European constitution]] was over. The latter showed strong ideological divisions within the left-wing spectrum, and the Socialist Party itself. This prevented the possibility of a primary spanning the whole left-wing, that would give its support to a presidential candidate. Given that no majority supported either a leader or a split, a registration campaign, enabling membership for only 20 euros, and a [[French Socialist Party presidential primary, 2006|closed primary]] was organized, which [[Ségolène Royal]] won. She qualified to the national run-off that she lost to Nicolas Sarkozy.
** In 2011, the Socialist Party decided to organise the first ever [[French Socialist Party presidential primary, 2011|open primary]] in France to pick the [[Socialist Party (France)|Socialist party]] and the [[Radical Party of the Left]] nominee for the [[2012 French presidential election|2012 presidential election]]. Inspired by the [[Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2008|2008 U.S. primaries]], it was seen as a way to reinvigorate the party. The idea was first proposed by [[Terra Nova (think tank)|Terra Nova]], an independent left-leaning think tank, in a 2008 report.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tnova.fr/essai/pour-une-primaire-la-fran-aise |title=Pour une primaire à la Française &#124; Terra Nova |access-date=2015-02-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122103828/http://www.tnova.fr/essai/pour-une-primaire-la-fran-aise |archive-date=22 January 2015 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> It was also criticized for going against the nature of the regime. The open primary was not state-organized : the party took charge of all the electoral procedures, planning to set up 10,000 voting polls. All citizens on the electoral rolls, members of the [[Socialist Party (France)|Socialist party]] and the [[Radical Party of the Left]], and members of the parties' youth organisation ([[Young Socialist Movement|MJS]] and [[Young Radicals of the Left|JRG]]), including minors of 15 to 18 years old, were entitled to vote in exchange for one euro to cover the costs. More than 3 million people participated in this first open primary, which was considered a success, and former party leader [[François Hollande]] was designated the Socialist and Radical candidate for the [[2012 French presidential election|2012 presidential election]].
* Other parties organize membership primaries to choose their nominee, such as [[The Greens (France)|Europe Ecologie – Les Verts (EE-LV)]] (2006, 2011, 2016), and the [[French Communist Party]] in 2011.
* At the local level, membership primaries are the rule for Socialist Party's candidates, but these are usually not competitive. In order to tame potential feud in his party, and prepare the ground for a long campaign, Sarkozy pushed for a closed primary in 2006 to designate the UMP candidate for the 2008 election of the [[Mayor of Paris]]. [[Françoise de Panafieu]] was elected in a four-way race. However, she did not clinch the mayorship two years later.

===Germany===
In Germany, top candidates for the federal election can be selected in primaries. For party leaders, however, the selection at delegate conferences is required by law. It is, nevertheless, possible to hold a non-binding primary.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Küppers |first=Anne |date=2022-05-11 |title=The Occasional Democratisation of Leadership Selection in Germany |url=https://osf.io/ys3r9 |doi=10.31219/osf.io/ys3r9}}</ref> 

====Top candidates====
The Greens nominated their top candidates for the 2013 federal election (election of [[Jürgen Trittin]] and [[Katrin Göring-Eckardt]]) and for the 2017 federal election (election of [[Cem Özdemir]] and Katrin Göring-Eckardt) in a primary election by all party members (closed primary).

Primary elections are used much more frequently by parties at the regional than at the federal level.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Küppers |first=Anne |date=2021-04-03 |title=Effects of Party Primaries in German Regional Party Branches |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09644008.2020.1748602 |journal=German Politics |language=en |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=208–226 |doi=10.1080/09644008.2020.1748602 |s2cid=216491161 |issn=0964-4008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Detterbeck |first=Klaus |date=2013 |title=The Rare Event of Choice: Party Primaries in German Land Parties |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09644008.2013.794451 |journal=German Politics |language=en |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=270–287 |doi=10.1080/09644008.2013.794451 |s2cid=153409906 |issn=0964-4008}}</ref>

====Party leaders====
The first party to use a (non-binding) closed primary to select its party leader at the federal level was the SPD in 1993.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Decker |first1=Frank |last2=Küppers |first2=Anne |date=2015 |title=Mehr Basisdemokratie wagen? Organisationsreformen der deutschen Mitgliederparteien im Vergleich |url=http://www.nomos-elibrary.de/index.php?doi=10.5771/1610-7780-2015-3-397 |journal=Zeitschrift für Staats- und Europawissenschaften |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=397–419 |doi=10.5771/1610-7780-2015-3-397 |issn=1610-7780}}</ref> After the surprising resignation of [[Andrea Nahles]], the SPD held another party primary [[2019 Social Democratic Party of Germany leadership election|to determine her successor in 2019]]. A dual leadership of [[Saskia Esken]] and [[Norbert Walter-Borjans]] was elected. The CDU used the procedure for the first time in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-11-02 |title=Germany's CDU opens up leadership vote to all members in bid to start 'afresh' |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/german-elections-germanys-christian-democratscdu-armin-laschet-angela-merkel-berlin/ |access-date=2022-07-29 |website=POLITICO |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Friedrich Merz]] prevailed against two competitors [[Norbert Röttgen]] and [[Helge Braun]] in an online ballot of all CDU party members.

=== Netherlands ===
Open primary elections are not common in the Netherlands, candidates and list leaders are either selected internally by political parties through party leadership or member meetings and Congresses. In democratically organized parties, elections are used to choose leaders and candidates, but participation is limited to registered party members.<ref>{{Citation |last=Voerman |first=Gerrit |title=Kandidaatstelling op landelijk niveau |date=April 2014 |work=Politieke partijen |pages=45–62 |editor-last=de Lange |editor-first=Sarah |url=https://research.rug.nl/nl/publications/kandidaatstelling-op-landelijk-niveau |access-date=2024-10-26 |place=Den Haag |publisher=Raad voor het Openbaar Bestuur |isbn=978-90-5991-079-9 |editor2-last=Leyenaar |editor2-first=Monique |editor3-last=de Jong |editor3-first=Pieter}}</ref>

==== Examples of Party leader elections ====

* [[2006 People's Party for Freedom and Democracy leadership election|2006 People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) Leadership Election]]: This election was notable as it marked a leadership transition within one of the largest liberal parties in the Netherlands, and set up the [[Mark Rutte]] for his 14-year tenure as [[Prime Minister of the Netherlands]]
* [[2016 Labour Party (Netherlands) leadership election|2016 Labour Party (PvdA) Leadership Election:]] Held during a period of internal party challenges, this election sought to redefine the direction of the party amidst declining public support.
* [[2020 Christian Democratic Appeal leadership election|2020 Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) Leadership Election]].

=== Hungary ===
{{See also|2021 Hungarian opposition primary}}
A two-round primary election was held in [[Budapest]], Hungary in 2019 between four opposition parties, to select a single candidate to the [[2019 Budapest mayoral election]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-02-03 |title=Karácsony Gergely nyerte a budapesti előválasztás első fordulóját – percről percre a Mércén « Mérce |url=https://merce.hu/2019/02/03/karacsony-vagy-horvath-eldol-a-budapesti-elovalasztas-elso-forduloja-percrol-percre-a-mercen/ |access-date=2020-02-13 |website=Mérce |language=hu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Karácsony wins opposition primary for Budapest mayor |url=https://bbj.hu/politics/karacsony-wins-opposition-primary-for-budapest-mayor_167666 |access-date=2020-02-13 |website=Budapest Business Journal |language=en}}</ref> A smaller primary was also held in the district of [[Ferencváros]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dániel |first=Ács |date=2019-08-16 |title=Baranyi Krisztina nyerte a ferencvárosi előválasztást |url=https://444.hu/2019/08/16/baranyi-krisztina-nyerte-a-ferencvarosi-elovalasztast |access-date=2020-02-13 |website=444}}</ref>

For the 2022 parliamentary elections, the opposition parties organized a primary to select both their candidates for MPs and prime minister.<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.napi.hu |title=Opposition primary starts in August |url=https://www.napi.hu/magyar_gazdasag/ellenzek-elovalasztas-augusztus-politika.724222.html |accessdate=2021-09-04 |work=Napi.hu |language=hu}}</ref>

===Italy===
{{Main|Primary elections in Italy}}

Primary election were introduced in Italy to establish the [[Centre-left coalition (Italy)|centre-left]] candidates for [[2005 Italian regional elections|2005 regional election]]. In that occasion the centre-left [[The Union (Italy)|The Union]] coalition held open primaries in order to select candidates for President of [[Apulia]] and [[Calabria]]. A more politically significant primary was held on 16 October 2005, when [[The Union (Italy)|The Union]] asked its voters to decide the candidate for Prime Minister in the [[2006 Italian general election|2006 general election]]: 4,300,000 voters showed up and [[Romano Prodi]] won hands down. Two years later, on 14 October 2007, voters of the [[Democratic Party (Italy)|Democratic Party]] were called to choose the party leader among a list of six, their representatives to the Constituent Assembly and the local leaders. The primary was a success, involving more than 3,500,000 people across Italy, and gave to the winner [[Walter Veltroni]] momentum in a difficult period for the government and the centre-left coalition. The centre-right (see [[House of Freedoms]], [[The People of Freedom]], [[Centre-right coalition (Italy)|centre-right coalition]] and [[Forza Italia (2013)|Forza Italia]]) has never held a primary at the national level, but held some experiments at the very local level.

===Russia===
{{More citations needed|section|date=June 2024}}
The first primaries in the history of Russia were held in May 2000 in [[St. Petersburg]], the local branches of the parties [[Yabloko]] and the [[Union of Right Forces]], who before the [[Governor of Saint Petersburg|Gubernatorial]] election offered citizens to choose a single candidate from the democratic opposition.

In 2007, before the parliamentary elections, [[United Russia]] held primaries in several regions. However, its results were not sufficiently taken into account when nominating candidates from the party. For example, the congress of United Russia included in the regional party list in the Samara region not the winners of the primaries, but those who did not even participate in the primaries.

In the same year 2007, [[A Just Russia]] held the primaries to determine the candidate for the Gubernatorial election in [[Altai Krai]]. Anyone could vote for them, for which special items were opened. However, in the future, A Just Russia did not begin to pursue the primaries.

In 2011, [[United Russia]], together with the [[All-Russian People's Front]], held primaries for the nomination of candidates for the [[2011 Russian legislative election|Duma election]]. This vote was called the "All-People's Primaries", but in fact it was not. Candidates for the primaries were selected by special committees. Not even all party members had the right to vote, but only about 200,000 specially selected electors. In addition, the results of voting on the primaries were in most cases ignored. Of the 80 lists of regional groups of candidates for the [[State Duma]], nominated by the congress of Unitpared Russia, only 8 lists coincided with the lists of winners of the primaries. All the same, the event played a role in the elimination of candidates: there were cases when the current deputies of the State Duma, having seen that they did not enjoy the support of electors, withdrew their candidacies.

In the future, United Russia has sometimes resorted to an "open" model of primaries, which allows voting to all interested voters. In 2014, in the primaries of the "United Russia" before the elections to the [[Moscow City Duma]], any Muscovite could vote, and not only registered electors.

In 2016, the primaries for the selection of candidates for parliamentary elections were held by four parties: [[United Russia]], [[People's Freedom Party (Russia)|People's Freedom Party]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://volna.parnasparty.ru/|title=Волна перемен|website=volna.parnasparty.ru}}</ref> the [[Party of Growth]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dvigrosta.ru/projects/tribuna/|title=Предварительное голосование "Трибуна Роста" 2016|website=dvigrosta.ru|access-date=15 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529105633/http://dvigrosta.ru/projects/tribuna/|archive-date=29 May 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the [[Green Alliance (Russia)|Green Alliance]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://russian-greens.ru/vote/|title=Альянс Зеленых|website=russian-greens.ru|access-date=15 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507164919/http://russian-greens.ru/vote/|archive-date=7 May 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> The most massive were 22 May 2016 primaries of the United Russia, which could vote for every citizen who has an active electoral right. However, the primaries, as well as earlier, were not binding for the leadership of United Russia: a number of winners of the primaries were withdrawn by the leadership without any explanation of reasons, and in 18 single-seat constituencies the party did not nominate any candidates. A striking example was the [[Nizhny Tagil constituency]], where the candidate from the United Russia was approved candidate, who took the 4th place in the primaries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uralinform.ru/news/politics/253293-edinaya-rossiya-otmenila-itogi-praimeriz-v-nijnem-tagile/|title="Единая Россия" отменила итоги праймериз в Нижнем Тагиле|website=УралИнформБюро}}</ref> Finally, a number of candidates were included in the party list on the proposal of the party leader [[Dmitry Medvedev]] from among those who did not even participate in the primaries.

In 2017, the [[Party of Growth]] holds the [[Party of Growth presidential primaries, 2017|primaries]] for the nomination of candidates for the [[2018 Russian presidential election|presidential election]]. These are the first presidential primaries in the history of Russia. However, voting for candidates will take place via the Internet within three months, and, according to the spokesman of the party, the results of the primaries will not be mandatory for the nomination of the candidate and the party convention may nominate another candidate who does not even participate in the primaries, or even not nominate candidates and support President [[Vladimir Putin]], if he decides to be re-elected.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rbc.ru/politics/10/08/2017/598c65619a79471ba8ab09c2?from=main|title=Члены Партии роста предложили Путину уйти с поста президента|website=РБК|date=10 August 2017 }}</ref>

=== Poland ===
* [[2019 Civic Platform presidential primary]]
* [[2020 Confederation presidential primary|2020 Confederation Liberty and Independence presidential primaries]]

=== Portugal ===

* [[2014 Portuguese Socialist Party prime ministerial primary]]

===United Kingdom===
{{Main|Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary primaries}}
For the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]], the Conservative Party used open primaries to select two candidates for [[Member of Parliament]]. Further open primaries were used to select some Conservative candidates for the [[2015 United Kingdom general election|2015 general election]], and there are hopes other parties may nominate future candidates in this way.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8182833.stm?ad=1 | work=BBC News | title=GP wins Tory 'open primary' race | date=4 August 2009 | access-date=22 May 2010 | archive-date=26 January 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160126114511/http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8182833.stm?ad=1 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8183907.stm?ad=1 | work=BBC News | title=Tories test the mood in Totnes | date=4 August 2009 | access-date=22 May 2010 | archive-date=10 August 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810114034/http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8183907.stm?ad=1 | url-status=dead }}</ref>