On August 24, Vermont held primaries for the Democratic, Republican, and Progressive Parties.  Vermont does not have registration by party, and any voter is free to choose any party’s primary ballot.

The Democratic primary ballot was chosen by 74,633 voters; the Republican primary ballot by 30,058 voters; and the Progressive Party primary ballot by 553 voters.

By comparison, in 2008, when there were four parties entitled to their own primary, the number of voters choosing the September primary ballot of each party was:  Democratic 23,499; Republican 12,444; Progressive 470; Liberty Union 172.

Liberty Union Party was not entitled to its own primary in 2010 because none of its statewide nominees in 2008 polled as much as 5% of the vote.  However, Liberty Union is still a ballot-qualified party in Vermont, nominating by convention this year.