Primary choice
A primary election is generally an election in which persons to be represented , such as the voters of a country or the members of a party, are themselves entitled to vote, for example for the election of an electoral committee .
Today, the direct election to fill a top office within a party by its members is referred to as primary election.
Primary elections in Germany
For the purposes of the general definition of the primary election marked from 1848 to 1918 the first ballot in the indirect election to the Prussian House of Representatives , the voters in accordance with standard under which three-class franchise , the electors chose, which, in turn, the deputies particular.
In the Federal Republic of Germany, party leaders and top candidates are generally elected at a party congress.
In the first primary election of a federal chairman of a large party in the Federal Republic, the SPD members elected Rudolf Scharping in 1993 . However, this choice was only a recommendation for a separate party congress . The Pirate Party Germany was the first party in Germany to hold a primary election to determine the top candidate for the 2009 federal election .