In a bipartisan vote, the Maine Legislature passed a bill Wednesday that implements a semi-open primary system, which will allow voters registered independent (32% of the registered electorate) to choose between a Republican or a Democratic primary ballot in future elections.
The Pennsylvania primary election is in the rearview mirror. It’s time now to look ahead to a structural change that will bring an end to a closed primary election system that disenfranchises prospective voters who are not members of the country’s two major parties. Pennsylvania is among a handful of states that practice closed primaries, meaning that only Democrats and Republicans can cast ballots in the spring contest for candidates seeking.
The movement to take control of primaries out of the hands of political parties is growing. However, nonpartisan primary systems are only in place in a few states, and the only nonpartisan system in the South, Louisiana’s primary, is being targeted by partisan insiders. Fortunately, a bill that would have closed congressional primaries in the state was just dropped by its sponsor.
Louisiana has what is commonly referred to as a “jungle primary,” which simply means all candidates, regardless of party, run on a single ballot in the fall (sans a special election). If a candidate gets a majority of the vote, the race is decided. If no candidate gets a majority, a runoff election is held.