Open Primaries

A federal judge recently decided to temporary block a state law that would impose a financial requirement on criminals released from prison and done with parole in order to be re-enfranchised in the democratic process. This means, in 2020, hundreds of thousands of felons may be allowed to vote in the presidential primary process.

That is, as long as they join either the Democratic or Republican Party.

Many eyes are on Louisiana right now where the “jungle” primary over the weekend resulted in a “runoff” election in the gubernatorial race. The top two vote-getters, Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards and Republican businessman Eddie Rispone, will appear on a special runoff election ballot on November 16 because no candidate got 50%+1 of the vote.

The Arizona Democratic Party voted down a resolution on September 21 to open the party’s presidential primaries in March to the state’s 1.3 million independent voters.

It could well end up being a case of suicide by stupidity.

The Arizona Democratic Party has given the state’s 1.3 million independent voters a hard snub ahead of the 2020 election. Party officials rejected a proposal Saturday to open its presidential preference election, despite urging from younger party activists and nonpartisan reformers to support the idea.

Instead, both major political parties continue to send voters a clear message: “Pick a party” or don’t vote. 

Four state Republican Parties -- Arizona, Kansas, Nevada, and South Carolina -- have decided to cancel their presidential primary or caucus for the 2020 election, denying even their own members a choice in the 2020 race.

It is not uncommon for a party to cancel primaries when they have a sitting president running unopposed. Most of the time the incumbent is effectively not challenged.