Graham Cracker is jumping onto the popular side of this issue. His good friend, Senator McCain, also strongly favors open primaries.
As a lawyer, Graham surely must know that the courts have issued numerous rulings on state election laws. The U. S. Supreme Court has never heard a case on the state-mandated open primary, but when it does, it may well hand down a landmark decision.
The courts' role is to decide the constitutionality of laws. If a state open primary law is struck down, each party will then be free to decide which voters are eligible to participate in its primaries. If a party still wants to have an open primary, it will be able to do so.
In 1995, a federal appeals court said that, when a state requires parties to hold primaries, the state cannot force the parties to pay for those primaries (Republican Party of Arkansas v. Faulkner County). If states stopped paying for primaries, the parties would likely go back to nominating by conventions or caucuses, due to the expense of primaries.
2 comments:
Senator Graham's joining Democrats is surprising to me. Thanks for the link.
Graham Cracker is jumping onto the popular side of this issue. His good friend, Senator McCain, also strongly favors open primaries.
As a lawyer, Graham surely must know that the courts have issued numerous rulings on state election laws. The U. S. Supreme Court has never heard a case on the state-mandated open primary, but when it does, it may well hand down a landmark decision.
The courts' role is to decide the constitutionality of laws. If a state open primary law is struck down, each party will then be free to decide which voters are eligible to participate in its primaries. If a party still wants to have an open primary, it will be able to do so.
In 1995, a federal appeals court said that, when a state requires parties to hold primaries, the state cannot force the parties to pay for those primaries (Republican Party of Arkansas v. Faulkner County). If states stopped paying for primaries, the parties would likely go back to nominating by conventions or caucuses, due to the expense of primaries.
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