How Nevada’s Primary Election System Works

Nevada uses a closed primary system, meaning voters who are registered with a political party may only vote in that party’s primary election. Registered Democrats vote in Democratic primaries, while registered Republicans vote in Republican primaries.

Voters registered as nonpartisan or with a minor party generally cannot participate in Democratic or Republican primaries under Nevada’s current primary system. Nevada’s primaries are used to select each party’s nominees for offices such as U.S. Senate, U.S. House, governor, statewide offices, and state and local positions.

Nevada does not use statewide primary runoff elections. Instead, the candidate receiving the most votes in each primary wins the party’s nomination for the general election.