Honors Voting And Elections Practice Test

Primaries are the process by which voters decide who will represent each party in the next contest. They narrow the field so that, for each party, there is a single nominee on the general election ballot. The general election then selects the actual officeholder from the pool of nominees (and, depending on the race, from independent or third-party candidates as well). So primaries determine party nominees, while general elections determine who wins the office from those nominees. The other options mix up these roles or generalities: primaries do not elect officeholders themselves, they just pick nominees; the general election is not limited to judges or to a different function than choosing from nominees; and primaries are not constrained to be statewide while general elections must be local—both levels can occur depending on the office.