Editing Primary election (section)

==In Canada==
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As in [[Europe]], nomination meetings and leadership elections (somewhat similar to primary elections) in [[Canada]] are not organized by the public administration but by parties themselves.<ref>{{cite book|last=Cross|first=William|title=The Canadian Federal Election of 2006|year=2006|publisher=Dundurn Press|location=Toronto|isbn=978-1-55002-650-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/canadianfederale0000unse/page/171 171–195]|chapter-url=http://paperroom.ipsa.org/papers/paper_5470.pdf|editor=Jon H. Pammett and Christopher Dornan|chapter=Chapter 7: Candidate Nomination in Canada's Political Parties|url=https://archive.org/details/canadianfederale0000unse/page/171}}</ref> Political parties participate in federal elections to the [[House of Commons of Canada|House of Commons]], in legislative elections in all ten [[Provinces and territories of Canada|provinces]], and in [[Yukon]]. (The legislatures and elections in the [[Northwest Territories]] and [[Nunavut]] are non-partisan.)

===Local candidates===
Typically, in the months before an anticipated general election, local [[riding association]]s of [[List of political parties in Canada|political parties]] in each [[Electoral district (Canada)|electoral district]] will schedule and announce a Nomination Meeting (similar to a [[caucus#in the United States|nominating caucus]] in the United States). Would-be candidates will then file nomination papers with the association, and usually will devote time to solicit existing party members, and to sign up new party members who will also support them at the nomination meeting. At the meeting, typically each candidate will speak, and then members in attendance will vote. The electoral system most often used is an [[exhaustive ballot]] system; if no candidate has over 50% of the votes, the candidate with the lowest number of votes will be dropped and another ballot will be held. Also, other candidates who recognize that they will probably not win may withdraw between ballots, and may "throw their support" to (encourage their own supporters to vote for) another candidate. After the nomination meeting, the candidate and the association will obtain approval from party headquarters, and file the candidate's official nomination papers and necessary fees and deposits with [[Elections Canada]] or the provincial/territorial [[election commission]]s as appropriate.

At times, party headquarters may overturn an association's chosen candidate; for example, if any scandalous information about the candidate comes to light after the nomination. A party headquarters may also "parachute" a prominent candidate into an easy-to-win riding, removing the need to have a nomination meeting. These situations tend to cause disillusionment among a party's supporters.

===Party leaders===
Canadian political parties also organize their own elections of [[party leader]]s. Not only will the party leader run for a seat in their own chosen [[Electoral district (Canada)|riding]], they will also become [[Prime Minister of Canada|Prime Minister]] (in a federal election) or [[Premier (Canada)|Premier]] (in a province or territory) should their party secure the confidence of parliament (usually by winning the most seats). Thus, a leadership election is also considered to be one for the party's de facto candidate for Prime Minister or Premier. If the party does not secure the confidence of parliament, but wins the next most amount of seats, the party leader will become Leader of the [[Official Opposition (Canada)|Official Opposition]]; if the party comes third or lower but maintains [[official party status]], the leader will still be recognized as the leader of their party, and will be responsible for co-ordinating the activities and affairs of their party's [[Caucus#In Commonwealth nations|caucus]] in the legislature.

In the past, Canadian political parties chose party leaders through an American-style delegated [[leadership convention]]. Local riding associations would choose delegates, usually in a manner similar to how they would choose a candidate for election. These delegates typically said explicitly which leadership candidate they would support. Those delegates, as well as other delegates (''e.g.'' sitting party [[Member of parliament#Canada|members of Parliament or the legislature]], or delegates from party-affiliated organizations such as [[Labor unions#Canada|labor unions]] in the case of the [[New Democratic Party (Canada)|New Democratic Party]]), would then vote, again using the exhaustive ballot method, until a leader was chosen. Some provincial political parties retain the delegated convention format.

Lately, Canada's major political parties have moved towards [[Direct election|direct elections]] for federal leadership. A leadership convention is still scheduled, but all party members have a chance to vote for the new leader. Typically, members may vote either in person at the convention, online, or through a [[Postal voting|mail-in ballot]].

[[Instant-runoff voting|Instant-runoff]] is used in whole or in part to elect the leaders of the three largest federal [[political parties in Canada]]: the [[Liberal Party of Canada]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.liberal.ca/newsroom/party-news/liberals-vote-overwhelmingly-in-favour-of-one-member-one-vote-2/ |title=Liberals vote overwhelmingly in favour of one-member, one-vote |publisher=Liberal.ca |date=2 May 2009 |access-date=17 April 2011 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110504140309/https://www.liberal.ca/newsroom/party-news/liberals-vote-overwhelmingly-in-favour-of-one-member-one-vote-2/ |archive-date=4 May 2011 }}</ref> the [[Conservative Party of Canada]], and the [[New Democratic Party]], albeit the New Democratic Party uses a mixture of IRV and [[exhaustive voting]], allowing each member to choose one format or the other for their vote (as was used in their [[2017 New Democratic Party leadership election|2017]] leadership election). In 2013, members of the Liberal Party of Canada elected [[Justin Trudeau]] as party leader through IRV in a national leadership election.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.macleans.ca/2013/04/05/the-liberal-leadership-vote-who-what-where-when-how-could-it-go-wrong/|title=What Comes Next in the Liberal Vote |publisher=Maclean's |date=5 April 2013 |access-date=17 April 2013}}</ref> The Conservative Party used IRV (where each of the party's 338 riding associations are [[Weighted voting|weighted equally]], regardless of how many members voted in each riding) to elect [[Erin O'Toole]] as party leader in [[2020 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election|2020]], [[Andrew Scheer]] in [[2017 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election|2017]], and [[Stephen Harper]] in [[2004 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election|2004]].