What Is Louisiana's 'Jungle Primary'?

By MEG KINNARD, Associated Press

On Nov. 8, Louisiana voters go to the polls, similar to in states across the country — only they’ll technically be voting in a primary election that features candidates from all corners. Their votes may determine which candidates will occupy offices in any respect levels of the state’s government, or which candidates go on to a runoff.

Here’s a take a look at Louisiana’s unique system, unofficially called a “jungle primary,” and discussions around changing it:

WHAT IS A ‘JUNGLE PRIMARY’?

In what’s regarded as a standard primary, political candidates only compete against other contenders inside their very own parties for nominations, to then advance to the overall election. States hold their primaries on a wide range of dates, with winners competing with each other on the November ballot.

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But in a “jungle primary” or “majority vote primary,” all candidates no matter party run against one another on the identical ballot. If nobody candidate tops 50% in that primary, the highest two vote-getters advance to a head-to-head runoff, which may find yourself pitting two Republicans or two Democrats against one another.

Although it’s called a primary, this happens on general Election Day.

HAS LOUISIANA ALWAYS DONE THIS?

For state, parish and municipal elections, Louisiana has used an open primary system since 1975. It was designed by then-Gov. Edwin Edwards, who had faced two tough Democratic primary rounds within the 1971 election before his general election run against a Republican opponent who hadn’t had the identical primary challenges.

Open primaries were first used for Louisiana’s federal elections in 1978, when state lawmakers modified rules for U.S. House and Senate. It isn’t used for Louisiana’s presidential primary.

HAVE THERE BEEN PROBLEMS?

Louisiana didn’t use open primaries from 2008 to 2010 due to legal challenges.

Initially, state lawmakers arrange Louisiana’s open primaries in late September or early October, with general election dates conforming with November’s federal election date. Candidates who exceeded the 50% primary threshold were declared “elected,” rendering the November general election date unnecessary for those contests.

That timeline yielded a lawsuit by a bunch of Louisiana voters, who challenged the open primary calendar based on the argument that federal law requires U.S. House and Senate members to be elected on the centralized November election date.

In 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the system violated federal law, since “over 80% of the contested congressional elections in Louisiana have ended as a matter of law with the open primary.” Subsequent to that call, Louisiana moved the congressional primary date to November’s federal election day, pushing any needed runoffs to December.

There have been a number of tweaks. Primary day was briefly moved to October in 2005. A yr later, Gov. Kathleen Blanco signed a law that closed Louisiana’s 2008 congressional primaries, but state lawmakers voted two years later to bring back nonpartisan federal primaries.

The system can result in immensely crowded primary ballots, like one for an open U.S. Senate seat in 2016 that boasted 24 candidates.

HAVE THERE BEEN RECENT EFFORTS TO CHANGE THIS?

Last yr, Louisiana lawmakers considered reinstituting closed primaries; that concept was ultimately scrapped.

Republican Sen. Sharon Hewitt of Slidell said she brought up the notion partially due to concerns that Louisiana’s open primary often has the state electing members of Congress later than the remaining of the country.

In competitive congressional races, particularly for open seats without an incumbent, races often are pushed right into a December runoff — a month after nearly every other state has settled its seats. Some Louisiana Republicans including U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise argued that that system puts Louisiana’s newest congressional delegation members at an obstacle in seniority, committee assignments and orientation sessions.

Other Republicans, including Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, actively lobbied against the bill — limited to congressional elections but seen as a possible stepping stone to wider closed primaries for other sorts of elections — arguing that changing the system would shrink voter participation, confuse and frustrate voters and result in more partisanship.

The feud raised questions on whether the bill could pass, and Hewitt said she would proceed studying the difficulty.

DO OTHER STATES DO ANYTHING SIMILAR?

Two states, California and Washington, use a “top two” primary format, using a standard ballot listing all candidates. California candidates list party affiliations, whereas Washington candidates list party “preferences,” based on the National Conference of State Legislatures.

In each states, the highest two vote-getters in each race advance to the overall election. But unlike in Louisiana, nobody can win the job outright in the first even in the event that they get greater than half the vote.

Nebraska legislators are elected on a nonpartisan basis, running without party designation and on the identical primary ballot, a system not dissimilar to local nonpartisan elections across the country, based on the National Conference of State Legislatures.

For the primary time this yr, Alaska elections were being held under a novel latest system that scraps party primaries and as an alternative holds an open primary wherein all candidates for a given race appear on ballots, no matter party affiliation, followed by ranked voting in the overall election.

This technique, in place for each state and federal elections, was narrowly approved by voters in 2020 and upheld by the state Supreme Court earlier this yr.

Meg Kinnard might be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP

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