The Independent View: The Democratic Party of Hawaii Filed a Lawsuit to Close the Primary Election

The Democratic Party of Hawaii filed a lawsuit on June 17, 2013 in federal court challenging the state's open primary system as an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment right to free association.

The lawsuit contends that only voters who are party members or who publicly declare party affiliation in advance should be able to participate in primaries. The open primary system, the suit alleges, enables all voters, including some who are indifferent to or even opposed to the party's beliefs, to help select the party's candidates.

Hawaii at this time does not ask voters to choose a party when they register to vote.

Democratic Party Chair, Dante Carpenter, says Labor Attorney Tony Gill will proceed with the lawsuit on the party's behalf.

As the law stands now, the Democratic Party of Hawaii must allow candidates who claim Democratic Party affiliation to run as Democrats, but the party leadership said that provision "does violence to the party’s own association of freedoms and freedoms of its membership."

They also want to have Hawaii return to a closed primary election system to prevent Republicans and independents from crossing over to vote in Democratic primaries. That would mean those voting in the primary election would have to show a party card or prove party affiliation before casting votes for Democrats on the ballot.

The party central committee and leadership notes: "The Democratic Party of Hawaii believes that its primary election, a state imposed mandatory nomination procedure, ought to be open to participation of only such persons as are willing to declare their affiliation with and support of the party, either through public registration to vote, or through maintenance of membership in the party. The party further believes that the current Constitution and laws of the United States, by maintaining secrecy of affiliation, and by compelling the party to admit to its nomination procedures those who have no interest in it, or actually oppose the interests, values and platform of the party, do violence to the party's associational freedom and the individual freedoms of its membership to define their own political views, guaranteed under the Constitution of the United States. The State Central Committee and party chairperson shall take the appropriate action to correct this injustice."