The blanket primary is a system used for selecting political party candidates in a primary election, used in Argentina and historically in the United States. In a blanket primary, voters may pick one candidate for each office without regard to party lines; for instance, a voter might select a Democratic candidate for governor and a Republican candidate for senator. In a traditional blanket primary the candidates with the highest number of votes for each office in each party advance to the general election, as the respective party's nominee. Blanket primaries differ from open primaries – in open primaries voters may pick candidates regardless of their own party registration, but may only choose among candidates from a single party of the voter's choice. A blanket primary gives registered voters maximum choice in selecting candidates among those systems that separate primary from general elections. Blanket primary elections also serve as polls for the general elections, revealing the portion of votes that the candidates are expected to receive in them. Comparison Compared to other primary systems, the blanket primary is less restrictive for voters because it does not limit them to selecting from only one party's candidates. Mainstream political parties, however, many see this as a disadvantage because it discourages party loyalty, especially among moderate voters who do not identify strongly with any party. The system also has potential for tactical voting: Voters opposed to one party might disingenuously choose a weaker candidate from that party, setting the candidate up to lose in the general election. Argentina In Argentina, nationwide blanket primaries, called PASO (, meaning "Simultaneous and mandatory open primaries"), were established for presidential and legislative elections in 2009 by the law 26,571. All parties must take part in these blanket primaries, including both the parties with internal factions and parties with a single candidate list. Citizens may vote for any candidate of any party, but may only cast a single vote. Parties must also get 1.5% or higher of the vote to be allowed to run in the general election. Furthermore, each party should have at least a membership of 0,4% of the electoral roll of its respective district to continue operating. In 2011, 149 minor parties were either closed, or were not allowed to run in specific provinces where they did not meet the requirements. This was rejected by the small opposition parties, which charged that these reforms could stymy