The Butte Standard, daily newspaper for Butte, Montana, has this op-ed by Republican Party state chairman Jeff Essmann. Essmann makes the philosophical case in favor of closed primaries.
Ballot Access News
Edited By Richard Winger
The Butte Standard, daily newspaper for Butte, Montana, has this op-ed by Republican Party state chairman Jeff Essmann. Essmann makes the philosophical case in favor of closed primaries.
We’re having more fun in the two virtual parliaments’ elections; the USA and International Parliaments, than can ever be imagined by promoters of plurality elections.
The United Coalition is organizing a news conference in Central California, electing a Direct Democracy (DD) platform among seventeen candidates for US President and this is already planned for the end of September.
http://usparliament.org/v-h-dd.php
Our time is precious and investing it into a United Coalition for national USA and international elections is our highest priority.
We are simultaneously working with USA and international candidates to demonstrate examples of how a unifying vote counting under pure proportional representation (PR) works to generate the new unity phenomena like none before.
Richard,
Would you happen to know how much Montana taxpayers spend to pay for the state’s primaries?
I think that closed primaries are philosophically and constitutionally sound so long as taxpayers, including independents, are not required to subsidize them.
No, I don’t know how much they cost. But it is always important to remember that political parties did not ask for primaries. Primaries were forced on them.
The 8th circuit ruled that if the state requires a party to choose its nominees in a primary, then the government is constitutionally required to pay for those primaries. I agree with that decision,
PUBLIC offices, PUBLIC Electors, PUBLIC L-A-W-S about nominations.
Exactly what part(s) of the USA Const say that a Faction having X percent of the Electors in it has any constitutional *right* to get the Faction candidates on the general election ballots — regardless of the PUBLIC laws in a State ???
Again see the 1989 Eu SCOTUS case.
If the party names were removed from ballots, then voters would be free organize in parties and encourage voters to vote for the candidates they favor.
I don’t think there any country in the world (that has a population of at least 100,000, and which holds elections) that doesn’t print party labels on ballots. Voters depend on party labels on ballots.
Is it true then that in Montana, the GOP does not have the option to nominate by convention at its own expense?
How does that mere State of Nebraska [not yet a country] exist with its NONPARTISAN ONE HOUSE State Legislature ???
even with the super defective top 2 stuff and its standard gerrymander stuff ???
—
P.R. and nonpartisan App.V.
In Montana the Republicans are free to choose party officers at meetings, but for public office they must use the primary.
The primaries cost around 500,000 state wide. based on ballot measures costs.