The Independent View: Closed Primaries and Independent Voters

The Independent Voter Project and IndependentVoting.org announce the formation of a new coalition, EndPartisanship.org.

The coalition will bring together organizations from across the political spectrum for the exclusive purpose of ending party control of elections and protecting the voting rights of all voters.

The two dominant political parties have worked together for decades, in courtrooms and in state legislatures, to manipulate election laws to protect the power of partisan insiders at the expense of individual voters.

Over 90% of elections in America are decided in low turnout primaries. This disenfranchises independent voters and encourages politicians to ignore the broader public interest in favor of narrow, entrenched partisan interests.

EndPartisanship.org supports Nonpartisan Open Primaries.

The coalition will focus on legal and political strategies designed to challenge laws, customs and practices that place the rights of political organizations above the rights of individual voters.

The EndPartisanship.org coalition will promote the following principles:

1. The right to vote is fundamental.

2. The right to vote cannot be abridged by a requirement to join any organization.

3. Public funds cannot be used to subsidize the private activities of political parties.

EndPartisanship.org coalition is the first organized effort to defend and promote the principle that every voter is entitled to an equal right of meaningful participation in the election process, whether or not they chose to affiliate with a political party.

I will discuss #3, the public funding of primaries, especially closed primaries, and the concept of blanket primaries.

The Stamp Act was a tax on any piece of paper printed in the colonies (newspapers; licenses; legal documents; even playing cards). The British claimed it was necessary in order to pay for the thousands of troops it had protecting the colonies' back door near the Appalachain Mountains. The colonists had a greater fear than invaders from the frontier. They were afraid that if this tax was allowed to pass unchallenged, there would be a tidal wave of taxes to follow, and all without any colonial input. "Taxation without Representation".

In those states that have closed primaries, the excluded voters can voice their Stamp Act call. If you have been reading this blog, you know I have talked about open primaries since I began the blog.

But here is another option, If the parties want to close their primary, make them pay the city or state for using the voting equipment, poll site, and poll workers.

My other main issue is the right of all voters to select their candidates no matter what party the candidate belongs to in the primary, a blanket primary.

The Ninth Circuit held that the political parties’ right to freedom of association under the First Amendment includes the right to determine their nominees for public office without participation by non-members of the parties.

Washington’s blanket primary does two things at the same time. First, it permits every voter to choose from among all the candidates for every office at the primary, including the ability to vote for a candidate of one party for one office and a candidate of a different party for a different office. Second, it guarantees that one candidate of every major party will qualify for the general election ballot.

This latter feature persuaded the Ninth Circuit that Washington’s primary is a party nominating system. The combination of these two features, rather than either one of them by itself, is the basis of the Ninth Circuit decision. This suggests that the Legislature could choose to retain one or the other feature of the blanket primary, but not both.

So, I need you help in determining how a blanket primary could work constitutionally.

CLICK HERE for more information about the new coalition and what you can do to make the concept of open primaries to all voters work.