The United States runs vastly more elections and elects far more officials than almost any other democracy ⭐, largely because of federalism, localism, and a strong preference for electing rather than appointing public officials.[1][2]
The United States uses a wide variety of election types—primaries (with multiple rule variants), general elections, runoffs, and special elections—and primary rules differ substantially by state in ways that also affect turnout, which is typically much lower in primaries than in general elections.[1][2][3]
Within the primary universe, participation is uneven: roughly 20% of eligible voters participated in 2022 primaries nationwide, and nearly 80% sat out, with somewhat higher turnout in more open or nonpartisan primary systems. This gap underscores that candidate selection is often decided by a relatively small, more partisan and engaged slice of the electorate, with the broader electorate arriving only at the general election stage. ⭐ [13][14]
Electoral Systems Used in the U.S.