Editing Primary election (section)

=== Closed primary ===
In a "closed primary", people may vote in a party's primary only if they are registered members of that party prior to election day. Independents cannot participate. Because some political parties name themselves independent, the terms "non-partisan" or "unaffiliated" often replace "independent" when referring to those who are not affiliated with a political party. As of 2016, thirteen states and the [[District of Columbia]] used closed primaries.<ref name="State Primary Election Types">{{cite web|title=State Primary Election Types|url=http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/primary-types.aspx|website=NCSL|publisher=National Conference of State Legislatures|access-date=5 April 2016}}</ref><ref name="Bowman-2012">{{cite book|last=Bowman|first=Ann|title=State and Local Government: The Essentials|url=https://archive.org/details/statelocalgovern0000bowm_o5d9|url-access=registration|year=2012|publisher=Wadsworth|location=Boston, MA|page=[https://archive.org/details/statelocalgovern0000bowm_o5d9/page/77 77]|isbn=9781111341497}}</ref>