Officially, it isn’t even a primary at all, with it
technically being a nonpartisan general election with a runoff should no
candidate receive a simple majority of votes. All candidates regardless of
party affiliation (if any) participate. A trio of other states have similar systems,
except they are of the “top two” variety where a primary prior to the general election
sorts out which two appear in the general election, regardless whether one
receives a simple majority in the primary.
Rumblings among state politicians on this issue caught
the attention of my colleagues at the Baton
Rouge Advocate (I am a contracted to write a weekly opinion column for it),
who produced a story about whether the state should change. It has used the
blanket primary since 1975, except for all political party and presidential preference
primary or caucus elections since then and in 2008 and 2010 a closed primary system
for Congress.
