The Williamson County Republican Party Executive Committee announced Friday they passed a resolution to strongly support HB0887 and its companion Senate bill SB0772. The proposal’s summary – sponsored by Rep. Ryan Williams (R-Cookeville) and Sen. Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) – simply states:
As introduced, requires a person to declare a statewide political party affiliation before voting in a primary election. – Amends TCA Title 2.
(emphasis added)
Williamson County Republican Party Chair Debbie Deaver said the measure, which passed overwhelmingly 10-0, would be a welcome change. “It’s a little disingenuous to allow someone to select a candidate for a party they don’t identify with and who they will not vote for in the general election. Just like Alabama doesn’t let Tennessee pick its head coach, and Apple doesn’t have the board of Microsoft select its CEO, we should not let non-Republicans pick our nominees.”
The next stop for the bill proposal is the Senate State and Local Government Committee, where it is scheduled to be heard.
Bravo – the first response that isn’t conflicted by party self-interest. We should be able to vote for whom we desire regardless of party – this isn’t one party against the other, as unfortunately seems to be increasingly propagated by everyone these days (democrats and republicans) – it is each individual citizen deciding whom they feel will best serve this nation and the people in it.
So what if you identify as Independent? You don’t get to vote at all in the primaries? Bull spit! Our house tends to vote republican, but the time for two parties is over.
Right. And after we swear fealty to the party of Lincoln and their new amnesty oath, will they just throw your primary votes in the trash and declare whomever they want the winner like they do now? Hide in a closet and come out with the fabricated delegate slate? Let the important people completely change their committed candidate to displace delegates that people actually voted for? The private political club elections are not constitutional (not required by it), your votes do not count…so they can be and are ignored.
Horatio, your conjuring up a problem where none will exist. I believe about half of the states have closed primaries and they work just fine. I anticipate that you will simply register to vote and at the same time register your party affiliation 30 days before the primary if you want to vote in the primary of a party. You can also change your party affiliation 30 days before a primary if you are already registered. That’s it! Otherwise, the primaries are conducted the same as they always have. The skullduggery that you list have nothing to do with closing our primaries which is a simple act that will go a long way to give us a true representative two party system.
I’m not conjuring anything. All those things happened in the most recent presidential primary – and they had nothing to do with Democrat voters, but solely the leadership of the TNGOP. Or you can go back to 2012 and explain Rick Santorum “winning” TN with zero delegates on the ballot – and then TN delivering a unanimous vote for Romney.
Closing primaries does nothing to address that foundational problem. They lie, cheat and do not follow their own bylaws in house. Once the state level tomfoolery is complete, they do the same thing at the national convention (see John Bohner’s Florida teleprompter for example). As a private political party, they will not be regulated by law or the constitution and can continue to throw your votes away – regardless of how closed that voting sample is. They want state law to regulate participation so they can have their cake (taxpayer funded polling and machines, control of ballot appearance) and eat it too (corrupt the vote afterward).
If your “house” is conservative, its occupants should help conservatives gain control of the Republican Party and maximize their effectiveness by joining the Republican Party and vote in the Republican Primary. If your “house” is liberal then join the Democratic Party and vote in their primary. If your “house” doesn’t have a consistent political philosophy then its occupants should keep on changing their registration every time they change philosophies. In the meantime, your “house” should keep on waiting patiently for the two party system to disappear while the rest of us accommodate ourselves to that system which has been in effect throughout the history of this nation and shows no signs of disappearing while making it run as well as possible.
Independents or Libertiarns never get sufficent votes, they don’t have the money to run a campaign against the big Shots. Republicans come closest to the Conservative only reason they get votes from our house. We need A STRICTLY CONSTITUTIONAL PARTY you can register for. No more Cross over voting, then crossing back to vote Dem later. Closed Primarys and the losing in the poll by 10 pts or more has to drop out. All they do is divide the vote it’s how we got Halsam.
So long as the Democratic Party remains moribund in this state who wins the Democratic Primary often makes no difference or there is only one or no candidate for many offices on the ballot. Winning the Republican Primary, on the other hand, is often tantamount to being elected and there is usually a race between an easily identified conservative vs. a centrist/tepid conservative where the temptation for activist Democrats to vote in the Republican Primary for the candidate closest to being a Democrat is almost irresistible.
Of course, having the Democrats’ help in choosing the Republican nominee is insane and a great deal for the centrist/tepid conservative establishment, that’s why the insanity has gone on for so long. I can’t think of any one thing that would boost the fortunes of conservatives in the Republican Party than depriving the centrists/tepid conservatives of their Democratic bench by closing our primaries. Now is the time for every conservative to contact their state senator and representative asking them to support HB0887/SB0772.
http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/
The problem isnt dems it is dems crossing over and choosing rino squishes like haslam, corker, alexander, etc
Often there are no choices for Democrats to run as you say, and the only people who do not have their own house in order are a wide field and range of candidates for Republican primary, so therefore, there is little choice for Democrats in primaries only in hopes of not electing nutcases that further degrade the state, but rather in hopes of keeping it on an even kiln.
Personally, I wished we actually had ranked voting, in which the top two run no matter what party they are, but by how many votes each person actually obtains. That way, if I DO like a specific republican who is “centrist” and not far right Tea Party kinda weird, actual work may be done for the betterment of the state’s citizens and who might work with others. I should not have to declare a specific ideology, but rather who I wish to put the future of my grandchildren in their hands. You want to gripe about Democrats crossing battle lines and voting for centrist Republicans, we wouldn’t have to if both parties declined special interest money and responsible to the people. That’s why both parties are splitting to utter bits.
So, please stop blaming Democrats. Instead, let’s allow people, the citizens to actually vote for whom they wish, primary or otherwise and a vote be an actual vote. Btw, there will eventually be a stronger third party out of all this vote meddling, personal information gathering, constant phone bank harassment by both parties, targeted memes and advertisements. No one should know my information, whom I voted for in the last election, or try to predict whom they “have in their pocket”. Every party should have to work hard to get every vote and not take them for granted as Conservatives think in this state. My vote matters as well. Go door to door with your rhetoric, instead of spending lobbyist money (that should go in their employees paychecks) to blast the airwaves and stuffing my mailbox with nasty advertisements that don’t say crap about what you stand for. Stop using smoke and mirrors to detract from other candidates. Support districting that don’t follow a trail on a mountain 50 miles away to decentralize votes.
Make elections fair, not to the parties, but to the people who are supposed to be served. The one big time I voted for a Republican, my husband had a mortal fit. He couldn’t understand why I would vote for a Republican as my entire family and I had always voted Democrat. HE fumed for days and weeks on end.. I supported this particular man because he supported adult adoptee records disclosure rights. Something a normal Republican wouldn’t do. He admitted he turned out to be a decent governor.. a centrist who wasn’t worried about lobbyist. He listened to his constituents, no matter his leanings. I”m still Democrat, but I deserve to have my vote recognized. If you don’t think Republicans don’t cross over now and then, you’re sadly mistaken. And more may do so this August and November. That is what you fear the most.
RINO Alexander won his last term to the Senate because of open primaries. This bill should have been ‘passed’ long ago.
This makes too much sense to be passed.