Maine now enters the final stretch of its 52nd biennial primary sweepstakes. It’s one that showcases a rivalry in each major party for the largest congressional district east of the Mississippi. It also features 25 contested primaries for the Maine House and Senate. Moreover, also in play are hundreds of offices in nonpartisan races at the local level including those in Lewiston-Auburn to choose members of a commission to set up a framework for a possible merger of two of Maine’s largest cities. Portland voters are summoned to the polls to vote on the school budget.

Under Maine’s “no excuse” — meaning you don’t need a reason — absentee voting procedures, balloting is already indeed getting under way. Nevertheless, most voters will be waiting until the day of the June 10 election itself to issue their verdict. Newspapers with nearly every other news medium in the state will be furnishing profiles of both the candidates and issues in the meantime. As they do, it’s worth taking a glance at what makes a Maine primary election both the same and different from those in other states.

The “closed” primary system:

Maine falls in line with some 26 of the other states — including all our Northeast brethren other than Vermont — in this category. A “closed” primary means that the only persons eligible to vote in a primary are those who are registered in a party a period of time before the election. Under this regime, only Republicans can vote in Republican primaries and only Democrats in the Democratic primaries.

Maine has in recent years softened up the “closed” nature of its primaries, however, by reducing the time before a primary when a party member can switch parties. This year in Maine if you are in one party and want to vote in another party’s primary you have up until May 23 to change over. If you are not enrolled in any party the selection of a party can occur even on the day of the primary itself. Thus, if you’re an “Independent” — that is, not enrolled in any party — you can choose one on the spot. This then enables you to walk in and vote in that party’s primary. (You don’t need to be in a party to vote on either referendum issues or for town or city candidates.)

“Open” primaries

Some 20 states have various forms of “open” primaries. This means that the decision in which party’s primary one wishes to vote can be made on the day of the primary itself. Most such states as a practical matter do not require that a voter even register in a particular party at all. Texas, Vermont, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi are among the states with this setup.

“Blanket” primaries

Developments in California and Washington state have cast new light on an intriguing and far-reaching third system. This is the so-called “blanket” primary. In its original form, adopted in Washington state in the 1930s, all candidates, regardless of party, are listed on a single ballot given to all voters. The leading candidate in each party — regardless of how many parties might be represented on the ballot –- is then given the nod to appear on a general ballot. The leading GOP, the leading Democrat, the leading Green and so forth among parties then go on to complete in November. Shortly after California adopted this procedure in the late 1990s the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000 struck down this method. This was because, according to the Court’s interpretation, it “Severely burdened the parties’ freedom of association because it forced them to allow nonmembers to participate in selecting the parties’ nominees.”

“Top Two” Primaries

Both California and Washington state rebounded to revive the blanket ballot in a dramatically different form. This one has now passed muster with the high court. Because it has just become the way in which the nation’s most populous state is conducting its primaries, it’s one we’re likely to hear a lot more about. This is the “top two” system. It was originally adopted in 1975 in Louisiana and was sometimes referred to as the “jungle primary.” But it has since emerged from the somewhat dubious political laboratory of Bayou country to win more credible attention since it went into effect in Washington in 2008 and in California in 2012.

Under the “top two” blanket primary the candidates who place first and second -– no matter what their affiliation — are the only ones eligible to move on to the general election. This means that in some instances the leading vote-getter of one of the major parties is squeezed out. Though if this happens it would likely in most states mean two candidates from the same political party squaring off against each other in the November vote, in Maine it might also lead to a different outcome. In our 2012 U.S. Senate race, for example, the choice would have been confined to Cynthia Dill, a Democrat and Angus King, an Independent. Voters would not have been able to find GOP nominee Charlie Summers’ name nor those of the three other Independent candidates on the final or general election ballot.

The “top two” system is heralded as one designed to reduce polarity in the political process. This it supposedly does by forcing Democrats and Republicans to compete to win favor among a broader spectrum of the electorate in the first round of voting than is the case when they have to constrict their appeals to the ideological partisans of their own parties in order to be nominated. It also is promoted as a means of reducing governmental stalemate once they’re elected.

The system’s opponents argue that it stultifies voter choice in general elections by depriving them of the opportunity to have a diversified offering on the ballot and that in the backlash against polarity it pushes too many candidates to the middle, where ideology is sometimes subordinated to unprincipled expediency.

The jury is still out on whether this system is having the desired initial effect in those states just adopting it and it’s likely Maine voters may be given a chance to weigh in before long.

Maine’s June 10 primary, though it does not offer a chance to decide whether our primary ballot system should be changed, does offer an ability for most voters to choose the candidates we will vote on in November not to mention in many communities an opportunity to decide crucial municipal issues as well.

Paul H. Mills is a Farmington attorney well known for his analyses and historical understanding of public affairs in Maine. He can be reached by e-mail: [email protected].