#open-primaries

#open-primaries

The essence of ranked choice voting is in the name: you rank your top choices. In races with up to five candidates, every candidate can be ranked. If there are more than five candidates, voters can rank their top five choices. On the ballot, there will be a row for each candidate and a column for each number. Fill in the bubble for the ranking you'd like to give a candidate in their row, with first being your top choice and fifth being the last candidate you'd like to rank. To rank a write-in candidate, write the candidate's name in the "write-in" line and then fill in whichever column you'd like to rank them in.

Louisiana voters cast ballots on Saturday, Senator Bill Cassidy's political demise could be hastened by a decision his fellow Republicans made two years ago: getting rid of an open, nonpartisan primary in favor of a closed system in which Republicans and Democrats compete separately. That nonpartisan primary was adopted, in part, to empower politicians like Mr. Cassidy who have been willing to cross party leaders and reach across the aisle.