Tennessee - The Republican Party's executive committee has delayed consideration of a measure recommending that voters register their party affiliation before being allowed to vote in primaries. The panel voted unanimously at a meeting in Nashville on Saturday to study the proposal for two months. Committee member Mark Winslow, a former executive director of the party, introduced the proposal that he says would keep Democrats from influencing Republican primary contests and county party organization sessions. Voters aren't registered by party and voters often participate in different primaries depending on campaign developments. The law allows for challenges of people who are "not a bona fide member of political party," though that status is not clearly defined. Any change would have to be approved by the General Assembly, where Republicans have wide majorities in both chambers.
According to its attorney Harry Kresky, Independentvoting.org is exploring the possibility of joining with South Carolina independents, third party activists and progressives to intervene in open primary litigation in South Carolina. In June of this year the Republican Party commenced a lawsuit against the State of South Carolina which seeks to limit who can vote in the Republican Party primary elections to persons registered into the Party.
As in Idaho, the plaintiffs claim that it violates their right to freedom of association for the State to allow non-party members to participate in the nomination of the Republican Party's candidates. South Carolina has had open primaries since the dismantling of the all white primary system in the 1950’s. Independentvoting.org would be aligned with the State of South Carolina in defending the open primary system.
So we must fight these changes. Here is a list of states we have to work on to give all the voters Open Primaries for all elections.
Alabama - Closed.
Alaska - (Updated) Alaska Democratic Party, Alaska Libertarian Party and Alaskan Independence Party Candidate with Ballot Measures ballot - any registered voter may vote this ballot. Alaska Republican Party Candidate with Ballot Measures ballot - voters registered as Republican, Nonpartisan or Undeclared may vote this ballot.
Arizona - Closed.
Arkansas - Open, but when runoff elections are used, voters must vote in same party's runoff election as they voted for in the first round election.
Colorado - Closed.
Connecticut - Closed.
Delaware - Closed.
District of Columbia - Only voters registered with the Democratic, Republican, D.C. Statehood Green or Umoja parties can vote in their party's primary.
Florida - Closed.
Georgia - Open, but when runoff elections are used, voters must vote in same party's runoff election as they voted for in the first round election.
Hawaii - Closed.
Illinois - Must vote in primary of same party as last primary the voter participated in. Loosely enforced. Voters may change party affiliation at polls or caucus.
Iowa - Closed caucuses, but voters may change registration at polls.
Kansas - In the Democratic caucus, independent voters can register as Democrat on caucus day. For Republicans it is a closed caucus.
Kentucky - Closed
Louisiana - Primaries are closed for presidential elections. For congressional elections, they are effectively open, because Louisiana currently uses a top-two runoff system ("cajun primary"). They switched to a closed primary used for Congressional races after 2006.
Maine - Closed caucuses.
Maryland - Parties can choose to open primaries but both Democrats and Republicans have chosen not to. If a voter does not choose a party, he or she will be recorded as “unaffiliated” and is permitted to vote in any nonpartisan primary in his or her local jurisdiction.
Massachusetts - Registered Democrats and Republicans can only vote for their own party in the primary but independent voters may decide which party they would like to vote for.
Montana - Republicans have a closed caucus, while Democrats have an open primary.
Nebraska - Closed.
Nevada - Closed caucuses.
New Hampshire - Registered Democrats and Republicans can only vote for their own party in the primary but independent voters may decide which party they would like to vote for. Unregistered voters can register on election day.
New Jersey - Registered Democrats and Republicans can only vote for their own party in the primary. Any NJ voter who has never on a previous occasion voted in a NJ primary election may declare a party affiliation at the poll. Independents may also decide which party to vote for.
New Mexico - Closed.
New York - Closed.
North Carolina - If registered with a party, you must vote in that party's primary. If unaffiliated, you may choose a party on the day of the primary election.
Ohio - Must vote in primary of same party as the voter participated in last primary election. Loosely enforced.
Oklahoma - Closed.
Oregon - Closed.
Pennsylvania - Closed.
Rhode Island - If you are registered as "unaffiliated" you may vote in the primary of any party you choose. Once you vote in a primary, however, you are considered a member of that party until and unless you "disaffiliate".
South Carolina - Open, but when runoff elections are used, voters must vote in same party's runoff election as they voted for in the first round election.
South Dakota - Closed.
Texas - Open, but when runoff elections are used, voters must vote in same party's runoff election as they voted for in the first round election.
Utah - Currently only Republicans close their primary. Democrats and independents can vote in the Democratic primary. Conventions are held by the political parties prior to the primary.
Virginia - Parties may choose to nominate by convention rather than by primary election.
West Virginia - Republicans have a closed convention while Democrats will hold a primary where unaffiliated voters and independents may participate.
Wyoming - Closed Caucuses.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!
Michael H. Drucker
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2 comments:
There are a number of errors in this list. In Alaska, independents are free to vote in any party's primary, including the Republican primary.
In Arizona, independents are free to vote in any party's primary except the Libertarian primary, if we are talking about the primary for congress and state and county office.
All the types of primary are defined in a political science book, "Voting at the Political Fault Line" and that books uses the term "semi-closed" as the kind of primary in which independents are free to vote in any party's primary but party members can only choose their own party's primary ballot.
The post may be intending to talk only about presidential primaries, which are frequently different than primaries for other office. This should be clarified.
I was trying to voice my thoughts that all primaries except presidential should be open. My prior posts talk about the mechanics of my open primary process.
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