ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a systematic test of the hypothesis that primary type will influence turnout rates in over 2,000 contested House primaries across nine election years from 2000 to 2016. The results show us the New York–Georgia differences are not an anomaly and that closed primaries are associated with lower levels of voter turnout. The chapter discusses some of the work that has examined turnout in U. S. Elections. It briefly outlines the theoretical expectations followed by descriptive measures of turnout by primary type. The chapter presents a more thorough test of the hypotheses to show that primary type influences turnout in congressional elections. In the United States, there are four major types of primary elections: open, closed, hybrid, and top-two. In order to examine the effect of primary laws on voter turnout and to test the hypotheses, it is necessary to examine primary elections across the country over a significant period of time.
