Closed Primary States 2026

Closed Primary

Yes

State	Closed Primary↓	Closed Democrat Primaries	Closed Republican Primaries
Connecticut	Yes	Yes	Yes
Delaware	Yes	Yes	Yes
Florida	Yes	Yes	Yes
Illinois	Yes	Yes	Yes
Indiana	Yes	Yes	Yes
Iowa	Yes	Yes	Yes
Kentucky	Yes	Yes	Yes
Maine	Yes	Yes	Yes
Nevada	Yes	Yes	Yes
New Jersey	Yes	Yes	Yes
New Mexico	Yes	Yes	Yes
New York	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ohio	Yes	Yes	Yes
Oregon	Yes	Yes	Yes
Pennsylvania	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tennessee	Yes	Yes	Yes
Wyoming	Yes	Yes	Yes
Alabama	No	No	No
Alaska	No	No	No
Arizona	No	No	No
Arkansas	No	No	No
California	No	No	No
Colorado	No	No	No
District of Columbia	No	No	No
Georgia	No	No	No
Hawaii	No	No	No
Idaho	No	No	Yes
Kansas	No	No	Yes
Louisiana	No	No	No
Maryland	No	No	No
Massachusetts	No	No	No
Michigan	No	No	No
Minnesota	No	No	No
Mississippi	No	No	No
Missouri	No	No	No
Montana	No	No	No
Nebraska	No	No	Yes
New Hampshire	No	No	No
North Carolina	No	No	No
North Dakota	No	No	No
Oklahoma	No	No	Yes
Rhode Island	No	No	No
South Carolina	No	No	No
South Dakota	No	No	Yes
Texas	No	No	No
Utah	No	No	Yes
Vermont	No	No	No
Virginia	No	No	No
Washington	No	No	No
West Virginia	No	No	Yes
Wisconsin	No	No	No

State

Closed Primary↓

Closed Democrat Primaries

Closed Republican Primaries

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Delaware

Only Democrats and Republicans can vote in either party’s primary elections in Delaware. This applies whether it’s a congressional, state, or presidential primary. About 25% of Delaware’s registered voters are not affiliated with any of the two political parties.

Kansas

Although Kansas law states that political parties can allow unaffiliated voters to participate in primaries, this rarely happens. Kansas has over 30% of voters not affiliated with a political party, meaning these voters don’t participate in the Democratic, Republican, or Libertarian primaries.

Maine

As one of the closed primary states, Maine requires voters to register with the Democratic, Republican, or Green Independent party before casting a ballot in the primary election. They must remain affiliated with that party for at least three months. However, this may soon change as Maine lawmakers recently approved a bill that would allow unenrolled and independent voters to participate in primary elections.

Florida

In Florida, primary elections are only open if all the candidates have the same party affiliation and the primary election winner faces no opposition in the General elections (Universal Primary Contest). All registered voters can also vote in primary elections that involve non-partisan candidates and issues. Otherwise, you must first affiliate yourself to a party before the registration deadline if you want to vote in Florida’s primary elections.

Kentucky

In Kentucky, voters are eligible to vote in non-partisan and judicial primaries only. Independent voters are ineligible to vote in congressional and state primaries or presidential primaries.

Nevada

Nevada’s federal and state primary elections are closed to those not affiliated with the Democratic or Republican parties. However, Nevada is one of those closed primary states that allow voters to participate in non-partisan primaries.

New Jersey

When registering to vote in New Jersey, residents must declare a political party affiliation to participate in local, state, and national office primary elections. However, for congressional and state primaries, independent voters can affiliate with a party at the polls.

New Mexico

New Mexico’s law states that a party’s primary elections are only open to its members. There are three major political parties in New Mexico: Democratic, Republican, or Libertarian. Voters registered with a minority party can’t vote in any of the major party primaries.

New York

New York is one of the closed primary states that excludes non-Democrats and non-Republicans from participating in primaries. But independent, third-party and affiliated voters have the chance to change their party before a primary.

Oregon

Oregon’s non-affiliated and independent voters cannot cast a ballot in a party’s primary elections. All registered voters can still vote on ballots that include non-partisan contests, such as judicial elections.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania belongs on the list of closed primary states because it has over one million unaffiliated voters that can’t participate in local, state, and federal primaries.

Wyoming

Wyoming gives unaffiliated voters the chance to register with a party at the polls on the primary election day if they wish to participate. Therefore, while Wyoming is sometimes considered a closed primary state, it actually has a partially open primary system.