WI no presidential primaries in the USA?

WI in the early 20th centuries the US didn't move towards a system of holding primaries for presidential candidates and many other high offices?

Perhaps instead they are chosen by the party elite, or members of the each parties Congressional Caucuses. Or perhaps rank-and-file party member can vote, but you have to a be a card-carrying, fee-paying member to vote, like in many other nations.

How will this effect who is chosen? Would there be many different choices made?

I admit I don't have that much knowledge about the detailed history of primaries, so if anyone would like to point out any inaccuracies in what I have written, they are welcome to.
 

oberdada

Gone Fishin'
one thought: more votes for 3. party candidates like in France.

No Obama, no Carter and nobody would have ever heard of New Hampshire
 
You are describing a restricted version of the Iowa caucuses that preceded the NH primary. Here is how they work.

Registered voters assemble at their precinct party meeting (caucus) at 7 PM on caucus day. Now, the timing excludes many working people who can not fit the meeting into their schedule. Unlike a primary, the voters do not have a 12 or 13 hour voting day.

The parties follow different rules, the Democrats being more complicated. Each precinct gets from one to nine votes that gets sent to a statewide tabulation at 8 or 9 PM, based on the number of people who are registered in the precinct.

When voters arrive at the caucus, they group in different parts of the room based on the candidate they support. Suppose the precinct has two votes and 60 people show up. You might see 20 for Obama, 18 for Edwards, 18 for Clinton, 2 for Kuchinich, 2 for Richardson. Any candidate with less than 15% gets eliminated immediately, so the supporters for Kuchinich and Richardson must join different groups. Now, the count reads 22 for Obama, 20 for Edwards and 18 for Clinton. Clinton gets eliminated, and now its 32 for Obama and 28 for Edwards. The precinct splits its votes, one for Obama and one for Edwards and the caucus is over.

A large precinct might send in 3 votes for Obama, 2 for Edwards, 2 for Clinton, 1 for Richardson and 1 for Biden.

The Republicans use a different system. Voters cast a secret ballot starting at 7 PM. Within each precinct, the winner takes all. This is how a dark horse candidate like Mike Huckabee was able to "win" Iowa with the largest plurality.

When the caucuses ends for both parties, the results all go to Des Moines where the votes are converted to convention delegates.
 
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