How Georgia’s Primary Election System Works

Georgia uses an open primary system, meaning voters do not register with a political party in advance. When voting in a primary election, voters choose a party’s ballot (Democratic, Republican, or other available primary ballots where applicable) at the polling place.

Voters may only select one party’s primary ballot per election cycle, but they are not permanently affiliated with that party. Georgia’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.

If no candidate receives a majority of the vote in a primary, Georgia holds a runoff election between the top two candidates. The winner of the runoff becomes the party’s nominee for the general election.