Voters in 17 states cast their votes on Super Tuesday and Super Saturday last week, but Mississippians will head to the polls for the 2016 presidential primary elections today. Registered voters participating in Mississippi’s presidential primaries can cast their votes between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. at designated voting precincts.
Not all states do things the same way at the polling places, though.
The majority of states hold primary elections— statewide processes of selecting delegates using a traditional secret ballot system.
According to the Mississippi Election Code, the state conducts open presidential primaries, along with 19 other states. Essentially, that means a voter is not required by state law to provide a party affiliation when registering to vote.
Registered voters are then allowed to cast ballots in either party’s primary, but they must choose one or the other. In a closed primary, however, a voter is required to register with a political party prior to Election Day and must vote with the party he or she selected.
In some cases, open primaries produce different results and party nominations when compared to closed primaries and caucuses, according to political science professor Jonathan Winburn.
“It might have an effect on the nomination, especially in an election year like this one,” Winburn said.
The primary voting turnout has reached record highs compared to previous years, according to Winburn. He said many primary voters this season are unconventional voters or voters who registered at the last minute.
“In most years, I don’t think a closed or open primary makes a huge difference,” Winburn said. “But this year especially, it probably could have really changed the landscape of the Republican race in particular.”
For states, each system has its own benefits and drawbacks, Winburn said.
“I think from a voter’s perspective, open will let you have your voice heard the loudest and give you more control in terms of picking and choosing which candidate to vote for,” Winburn said. “So, if people want to be strategic with their vote, an open primary allows that to happen. From the party’s perspective, they probably like closed better because they can then have a little bit more say over it.”
According to Winburn, in a state like Mississippi, the type of primary elections conducted matter more in non-presidential elections.
“Where it really can matter is in the U.S. Senate race,” Winburn said. “So, that’s where having an open or closed primary really matters in the state of Mississippi because the state can require runoffs if one of the candidates does not reach 50 percent of the vote, and that doesn’t happen in the presidential race.”
Lafayette County Election Commission Chairman Nell Green said Mississippi’s primary differs from those of most states in what actually appears on the ballot.
“In Mississippi, the presidential candidate’s name is actually listed on the ballot, whereas in a lot of states, the delegate’s name is listed, so you would vote for the delegate who pledged to vote for that candidate.” Green said. “But in Mississippi, instead of voting for a delegate, you actually vote for the presidential candidate.”
Each party assigns a different number of delegates to each state. Mississippi currently has 40 Republican delegates and 41 Democratic delegates. According to Winburn, all Democratic primaries are proportional; therefore, a mandatory 15 percent threshold is required in order for a presidential candidate to receive delegates from the national convention.
On the Republican side, however, primaries can be characterized as winner-take-all states or proportional states. Mississippi is a proportional state, with a 15 percent threshold. Each presidential candidate who receives 15 percent or more of the statewide vote is then allocated delegates based on their votes received and the number of candidates who reached the threshold. If no candidate acquires 15 percent of the vote, the threshold is then lowered to 10 percent.
For Green, the biggest impact comes from the voters themselves. “It’s important for voters to know that every vote is important. People sometimes think their vote doesn’t count, but that’s simply not true,” Green said. “We can still have a big impact here in Mississippi.”
– Morgan Walker
