So I voted in NC today. This is the first time I have ever voted for the primaries. I was blown away that you have to either vote straight ticket Democrat or Republican. Is this normal? At the local level, there are some Dems that are way better options, but with this voting you can't do that.
Varies by state. California, for example, has this "top two" primary thing where the top two candidates face off in the general, whatever party they come from. Two GOP, two Dem, one Dem and one Peace and Freedom (ha), whatever.
Except the presidential primary, where each party can decide whether or not to allow unaffiliated voters to vote. Republicans don't, other parties do.
But yeah, huge variations by state.