美国选举制度（五）：初选与提名：候选人是怎样产生的

【本章要点】

11月选票上的候选人不是凭空出现的：他们先要在上半年各州的初选中胜出

初选分「初选投票」与「党团会议」两种形式；谁能投票，各州有开放、封闭等不同规则

加州除总统初选外采用「前两名初选」：所有候选人同场竞技，得票前两名进大选

一、为什么先有初选

11月大选时，每个职位在每个党名下原则上只能有一名候选人。谁代表本党出战，由初选（primary election）决定。初选通常在选举年上半年举行，各州日期从3月排到9月；2026年加州的初选已在6月2日举行，11月3日选票上的名单，就是从那次初选中产生的。

初选使选举实际上分两步：先在党内选出候选人，再由全体选民在大选中决胜。现任者也可能在初选中被本党挑战者击败——在选情一边倒的选区，初选往往才是真正的决战。

二、两种形式：初选投票与党团会议

绝大多数州用「初选」：由政府选务机构举办，选民到投票站秘密投票，与大选程序相同。

少数州的部分选举用「党团会议」（caucus）：由政党自行举办，党员在某个晚上到学校、社区中心等场所集合，公开分组站队、讨论，再统计支持人数。最著名的是爱荷华州的党团会议——总统大选周期里，它传统上是全国第一个发声的州。党团会议耗时长、须本人到场，能参加的人数远少于普通投票，因此近年来一些州已改用初选，或改为由政党举办、允许提前投票的混合形式。

三、谁能投初选：开放与封闭

各州对「谁可以投哪个党的初选」规定不同，大致分三类：

封闭式初选（closed）：只有登记为该党的选民能投该党初选，与选民登记时填报的党派绑定；独立选民（登记为「无党派偏好」者）通常不能参加。

开放式初选（open）：不问登记党派，任何选民到场后任选一张党的选票来投，但只能选一张。

半开放／半封闭式：无党派选民可以参加某一党的初选，本党党员则不能跨党，细节各州不同。

报名参选的一方也有门槛：候选人通常要在截止日前向州或县选务机构提交参选文件，并缴纳报名费或征集一定数量的选民签名，才能把名字印上选票。

四、加州的特别规则：「前两名初选」

加州2010年通过第14号提案，自2012年起，除总统初选外，国会与州级职位一律采用「前两名初选」（top-two primary）：所有候选人——不分党派——列在同一张初选选票上，全体登记选民都可以投；得票最高的两名进入11月大选，哪怕两人同属一个政党。因此加州的大选里时常出现同党对决，选民的选择也不再被党派栏框死。

例外的是总统初选：它仍按党分别举行。登记为某党的选民直接投本党选票；「无党派偏好」选民若想参加某党的总统初选，需另行申请该党的选票（各党规则不同，有的党不接受跨党申请）。县市等地方职位在加州多为无党派职位（nonpartisan），候选人名字旁不标党派。

五、总统提名：一场持续半年的接力

总统候选人的产生是初选制度最大的舞台。各党在各州初选与党团会议中按得票分配「党代表」名额，代表们在夏季的全国代表大会上投票，得票过半者获得本党提名。传统日程是：爱荷华党团会议与新罕布什尔初选在年初最先举行，接着内华达、南卡罗来纳等州，3月初的「超级星期二」有十多个州同日投票，往往基本定局。两党各自有权调整州的顺序与规则，因此每届日历都有变化；但逻辑不变：用半年的时间，从各州小规模投票开始，逐州累积代表数，直到大会上完成提名。

（上一章：2026年中期选举改选什么；下一章：选民怎样投票——以加州为例。）

关联：美国选举制度（四）：中期选举：2026年11月3日改选什么

关联：美国选举制度（六）：选民怎样投票：以加州2026年为例

America's Electoral System (5): Primaries and Nominations: How Candidates Are Chosen

[Key points]

The names on the November ballot are not self-appointed: they first survive a primary season earlier in the year

Primaries come in two forms - government-run primary elections and party-run caucuses - with open, closed and hybrid rules on who may vote

California uses a 'top-two' primary for most offices: all candidates on one ballot, the top two finishers advance

1. Why primaries come first

In November, each party can field only one candidate per office. Who that is gets decided in the primaries, held state by state from March to September. California's 2026 primary took place on June 2; the names Californians see on the November 3 ballot are the people who came through it.

Primaries make American elections a two-step process: parties pick their champions first, then the whole electorate decides. Incumbents can lose at this stage to challengers from their own party - and in one-sided districts, the primary is often the real contest.

2. Two formats: primary elections and caucuses

Most states use primary elections: run by government election officials, with secret ballots at regular voting locations, just like November.

A few states, for some contests, use caucuses: meetings run by the parties themselves, where supporters gather in school gyms and community centers on a set evening, stand in groups for their candidates, debate, and are counted publicly. The most famous is Iowa's, traditionally the first contest of the presidential cycle. Caucuses demand hours of in-person attendance and draw far fewer people than polling-place voting; several states have moved to primaries or to party-run hybrids with early voting.

3. Who may vote: open, closed, and in between

States answer the question 'who can vote in a party's primary' differently. In closed primaries, only voters registered with that party may vote in it; unaffiliated voters - registered as 'no party preference' - generally sit it out. In open primaries, any voter may pick any one party's ballot at the polling place, regardless of registration, but only one. Semi-open and semi-closed systems fall between: unaffiliated voters may join one party's primary, while registered partisans may not cross over. Details vary by state.

Candidates face thresholds of their own: to appear on the ballot they must file paperwork with state or county officials by a deadline and pay a filing fee or collect a required number of voter signatures.

4. California's twist: the top-two primary

Since 2012, under Proposition 14, California has used a top-two primary for congressional and state offices: every candidate, whatever the party, appears on a single primary ballot open to all registered voters, and the two highest vote-getters advance to November - even if both belong to the same party. Same-party general elections are therefore common in California, and a voter's choice is not pre-sorted by party columns.

The presidential primary is the exception: it remains party-by-party. Registered partisans vote their own party's ballot; no-party-preference voters who want to join a party's presidential primary must request that party's ballot, and parties set their own rules on whether to accept them. Most city and county offices in California are nonpartisan by law - no party label appears next to the candidate's name at all.

5. Choosing a president: a six-month relay

Presidential nominations are the primary system's biggest stage. Primaries and caucuses award each candidate a share of convention delegates; at the national conventions in the summer, a majority of delegates makes the nomination. The traditional calendar opens in the new year with the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, continues through states such as Nevada and South Carolina, and reaches 'Super Tuesday' in early March, when more than a dozen states vote at once and the races usually settle. Each party controls its own calendar and tweaks it every cycle - but the logic is constant: half a year of escalating state contests to assemble a majority of delegates.

(Previous: what the 2026 midterms will decide. Next: how voters actually cast ballots - California, 2026.)

Related: America's Electoral System (4): The Midterms: What Is on the Ballot on November 3, 2026

Related: America's Electoral System (6): How Voters Cast Ballots: California in 2026 as an Example

来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）

图片来源：图：爱荷华州党团会议季期间一场竞选集会上的选民，身后为爱荷华州旗。Evan Guest 摄／Wikimedia Commons（CC BY 2.0）

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