CHAPTER 5. PRIMARY AND GENERAL ELECTIONS
PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS
§401. Purpose and nature of primary and general elections
A. Purpose. Primary and general elections are held to elect persons to Congress and
to all the elective offices in this state, except the office of presidential elector.
NOTE: Subsection B as amended by Acts 2024, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 1, eff. until June 12, 2025,
for certain purposes, and eff. until Jan. 1, 2026, for all other purposes. See Acts 2024, No.
640 and Acts 2025, No. 386.
B. Nature. All qualified voters of this state may vote on candidates for public office
in primary and general elections without regard to the voter's party affiliation or lack of it,
and all candidates for public office who qualify for a primary or general election may be
voted on without regard to the candidate's party affiliation or lack of it.
NOTE: Subsection B as amended by Acts 2024, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 1, eff. June 12, 2025, for
certain purposes, and eff. Jan. 1, 2026, for all other purposes. See Acts 2024, No. 640 and
Acts 2025, No. 386.
B. Nature of primary elections. (1) Except for the election of persons to a party
primary office in a party primary election, all qualified voters of this state may vote on
candidates for public office in primary elections without regard to the voter's party
affiliation or lack of it, and all candidates for public office who qualify for a primary may
be voted on without regard to the candidate's party affiliation or lack of it.
(2) Nature of party primary elections. The nature of party primary elections shall
be as provided in Part I-A of this Chapter.
NOTE: Subsection C as enacted by Acts 2024, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 1, eff. June 12, 2025, for
certain purposes, and eff. Jan. 1, 2026, for all other purposes. See Acts 2024, No. 640 and
Acts 2025, No. 386.
C. Nature of general elections. All qualified voters of this state may vote on
candidates for public office in general elections without regard to the voter's party affiliation
or lack of it, and all candidates for public office who qualify for a general election may be
voted on without regard to the candidate's party affiliation or lack of it.
Acts 1976, No. 697, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1978; Acts 2006, No. 560, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2007;
Acts 2010, No. 570, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2011; Acts 2024, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 1, §1, eff. See Act;
Acts 2024, No. 640, §2, eff. See Act; Acts 2025, No. 386, §§ 3, 7, eff. June 20, 2025.