Delegates to the Montana Republican Party convention in Billings this weekend will take up a resolution that would allow only registered Republicans to vote in future GOP primary elections.
The resolution also urges the party to authorize a lawsuit “to vindicate its First Amendment rights to have Republican candidates selected by Republican voters.”
The effort comes as some Republicans contend that Democratic voters crossed over in the June 3 primary election and influenced the outcome of some Republican races.
Matthew Monforton, a Bozeman attorney who is running for the state House, is the author of the resolution.
State Republican Chairman Will Deschamps of Missoula called Monforton’s proposal an interesting concept.
Former Republican Chairman Ken Miller of Laurel, had sent out an email supporting the idea. He also would like to require a runoff election after the primary if the Republican nominee doesn’t get at least 50 percent.
Rep. Rob Cook, R-Conrad, blasted Monforton’s idea.
“First, it was a candidate purity test,” Cook said. “Now it’s a voter purity test. Where does it stop? In my mind, this is the ultimate in hubris. Mr. Voter, please present yourself to your local central committee and we’ll decide if you’ll be allowed to vote Republican.”
He added, “Any time an ideology fails, you have a rush to change the rules to preserve the former power structure. I think they’re scared to death their message doesn’t resonate.”
It's time to let your representatives know you want an Open Primary.
Or, if it is closed, the party will have to pay for running the primary and not use taxpayer's money who payed for the primary but can not vote in it.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!
Michael H. Drucker
Technorati Tag in Del.icio.us 
No comments:
Post a Comment