JEFFERSON COUNTY, Texas — Elections can be confusing and one of the most common questions during a primary election is why you have to choose between a democratic or republican ballot.
The primary elections can be thought of like filtering the ballot for November.
A good example is the Orange County Sheriff's race. There are four candidates and the voters' job is to narrow the ticket down to one.
"It's when you vote one way or another. Republican or democrat. And then we have the other election after that," said a Beaumont Voter, Barbara Kunetka.
Primary elections require voters to choose a political party to vote for.
"Chance for the members of each political party to chose the person that most represents the views of that party," said David Cabell, another Beaumont voter.
"When you determine by vote who would be the primary leader or the nominee for that particular party," said Beaumont Voter Victor Allen.
When polls open on Tuesday voters have a choice, republican or democrat? Your ballot will only show the candidates in the political party you chose.
"So as you can see in the ballots, in the sample ballots if you're on our website Jeffersonelections.com, you're able to see all the candidates that are on this ballot. So, this is simply a filtering process to get the final candidate of your choice to the ballot in November," said Jefferson County Clerk Roxanne Acosta-Hellberg.
One voter, Andre Chatman, who took advantage of early voting was surprised to learn that only the republican ballot had propositions.
"Things that the republicans are fighting for isn't that a concern of the democrats as well? When it comes down to property taxes, school choice. That kind of effects the state as a whole. And not just one particular party," Chatman said.
Acosta-Hellberg says each party has unique initiatives which show up as propositions.
"So it's not necessarily a ballot item for November. It's just more of an internal party. And it's all based off of their initiatives, and what they want to focus on moving forward," she said.
The winners of the primary on the republican and democratic ticket will face off in November. The party you choose during the primaries has no influence on who you can vote for in the general election.