Election rules · 50 states + Washington, D.C.
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Primary systems, registration rules, early voting, absentee voting, and mail-ballot return policies from the EAC/NCSL state profiles—kept in source language and connected to the responsible state office.
Permanent state explainers
51 sourced rules pages
Election.org does not infer ranked-choice voting, write-in, judicial-retention, or runoff rules where the current source does not publish them. Those gaps remain visible.
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Compare all state source profiles
| State | Primary rules in the source |
|---|---|
| Alabama | Open |
| Alaska | Top-four open primary |
| Arizona | Open to unaffiliated voters |
| Arkansas | Open |
| California | Top-two |
| Colorado | Open to unaffiliated voters |
| Connecticut | Partially closed |
| Delaware | Closed |
| District of Columbia | Closed |
| Florida | Closed |
| Georgia | Open |
| Hawaii | Open |
| Idaho | Partially closed |
| Illinois | Partially open |
| Indiana | Partially open |
| Iowa | Partially open |
| Kansas | Partially closed |
| Kentucky | Closed |
| Louisiana | All-comers/open to unaffiliated for legislative races, other races may be closed |
| Maine | Open to unaffiliated voters |
| Maryland | Partially closed |
| Massachusetts | Open to unaffiliated voters |
| Michigan | Open |
| Minnesota | Open |
| Mississippi | Open |
| Missouri | Open |
| Montana | Open |
| Nebraska | Nonpartisan for state legislature; other primaries are closed |
| Nevada | Partially open |
| New Hampshire | Open to unaffiliated voters |
| New Jersey | Closed |
| New Mexico | Open to unaffiliated voters |
| New York | Closed |
| North Carolina | Open to unaffiliated voters |
| North Dakota | Open |
| Ohio | Partially open |
| Oklahoma | Partially closed |
| Oregon | Partially closed |
| Pennsylvania | Closed |
| Rhode Island | Open to unaffiliated voters |
| South Carolina | Open |
| South Dakota | Partially closed |
| Tennessee | Closed |
| Texas | Open |
| Utah | Partially closed |
| Vermont | Open |
| Virginia | Open |
| Washington | Top-two |
| West Virginia | Partially closed |
| Wisconsin | Open |
| Wyoming | Closed |
Source: U.S. Election Assistance Commission / NCSL State Election Profiles ↗ · verified 2026-08-24.