More and more political parties are opening up their leadership contests and candidate selection processes to online votes. Some, including the recent Conservative Party leadership contest in the United Kingdom, are open only to party members. But others, such as the recent Sicilian center-left coalition vote, opt for a more radical open primary format, in which voting is open to people from outside of the parties. The power of open primaries is that it gives the public a direct say in party politics.
Digital tools can help make party candidate selection contests more accessible. For this reason, parties and civic movements – such as the Primaire Populaire in France – have started to bring primaries to the digital space. In this article, we will introduce 6 candidates who have been recently elected, or ran, in digital primaries. Each of them is unique not just for their program but for the voting system they have used. Let’s meet them!
