State can limit party primary election, court rules

State can limit party primary election, court rules

Supremes rule that states can close primaries. The article lists Iowa as a "closed primary" state which is misleading since voters can declare or change affiliation on the spot when voting. Really interesting in our local context, where general elections produce roughly 2 to 1 Democratic majorities and the courthouse has been Republican-free since 1988. Let's just say one hears the phrase "how soon can I change back" a lot.

The Libertarians brought and lost this suit and the stance is interesting: they wanted to open the primary to all voters as a way to boost membership. Some small parties have opposed opening primaries fearing raids or takeovers by other relatively small groups (as happened to the Reform Party in the Pat Buchanan era). Of course, the true Libertarian stance would be to reject th state run primary entirely and nominate candidates via a private-sector caucus...

Politics