=History of Nominating Methods.=—During the past hundred years or more we have tried a variety of nominating methods. First came the caucus, sometimes a gathering of legislators and sometimes of voters, brought together to select a candidate. [Sidenote: The convention method.] The caucus gave place, in time, to the _convention_, which is a body of delegates chosen by the voters of each locality. To this day the convention remains the mechanism by which nominations are in some cases made. But the convention method, for a variety of reasons, did not prove satisfactory and it has been replaced, throughout the greater portion of the United States, by the system of nomination at a primary election. [Sidenote: Different forms of primary.] =The Primary.=—The primary, in our electoral system corresponds to the “qualifying trials” in athletic contests. Its purpose is to see that the race is confined to the swift. It eliminates those who have no chance to win. Those who desire to be candidates for any public office present their names on nomination papers, each of which must bear the signatures of so many qualified voters—say twenty-five or fifty. The names of the candidates are placed on a ballot, and a primary election is held some time before the regular election. But the details of primary elections differ somewhat from state to state. An _open primary_ is one at which voters are not restricted to the ballot or column of their own party, but may exercise entire freedom of choice among all the names on the primary ballot. In some states there are party primaries or _closed primaries_. This means that none may vote at the primary except those who are members of a political party.[40] Each party may hold its primary on a different date, in which case it is called a _separate primary_; or both parties may hold their primaries together, in which case we call it a _joint primary_. At a joint primary there may be a separate ballot for the voters of each party or there may be a single ballot which contains the names of different party candidates in parallel columns. In some cities and towns another form, the _non-partisan primary_, is provided, in which case the ballot bears no party designations at all. The procedure at a primary election is like that of a regular election, with printed ballots, ballot boxes, and regular officials in charge of the polls. [Sidenote: Advantages of the primary.]