2016 Primary Dates: Full List of Voting Days and What You Need to Know

The new year is here, which means the 2016 primary dates are upon us. 

Primaries are elections in which voters choose a political party's candidate for office in an election. Usually, voters must be registered with either the Democratic or Republican Party in order to vote in the primary. The New Hampshire primary, which is also termed the "first-in-the-nation primary," will be Tuesday, Feb. 9.

After the New Hampshire primary, the South Carolina primary will take place on two separate dates. The Republican primary date is Feb. 20; the Democratic primary is Feb. 27. The South Carolina primary is called the  "first-in-the-South" primary, holding the status since 1980.

"Super Tuesday" is a specific date when many primary elections are held, usually held on a Tuesday in March. This year, "Super Tuesday" will be on March 1. The states that will hold primaries on March 1 will be Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and Virginia.

The rest of the primaries, which are subject to change, are as follows. The dates were provided by U.S. Presidential Election News. 

Saturday, March 5

Louisiana

Tuesday, March 8 

Idaho (R)

Michigan

Mississippi

Tuesday, March 15

Florida

Illinois

Missouri

North Carolina

Ohio

Tuesday, March 22

Arizona 

Utah

Tuesday, April 5

Wisconsin

Tuesday, April 19 

New York

Tuesday, April 26 

Connecticut

Delaware

Maryland

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

Tuesday, May 3

Indiana

Tuesday, May 10

Nebraska (R)

West Virginia

Tuesday, May 17

Kentucky (D)

Oregon

Tuesday, May 24

Washington (R)

Tuesday, June 7 

California

Montana

New Jersey

New Mexico

South Dakota

Tuesday, June 14

District of Columbia (D)