On August 22, the Hawaii Democratic Party submitted an affidavit to a U.S. District Court that is hearing the party’s lawsuit against the open primary. The state party chairman submitted information about the party’s current policy of inviting Hawaii registered voters to join the party. The affidavit says the party has approximately 65,000 members. One joins the party by going to the party’s web page and filling out an application. Members sign that the generally agree with the party’s goals. Here is the form. The party asks for a contribution of $25, but it is voluntary.
The state still hasn’t submitted its brief in defense of the current election law, which requires all qualified parties to nominate by primary. Hawaii voter registration forms do not ask the applicant to choose a party, and on primary day, any voter is free to vote in any party’s primary.
What part of the USA Const says that X percent of the total voters (a FACTION) in each sovereign State have some sort of independent empire right to have the candidates of such FACTION get on the official primary or general election ballots ???
None.
This club could simply hold meetings and decide which candidate they wish to support, and gather enough signatures to place the candidate’s name on the ballot. The signature requirements in Hawaii are quite modest.
I’ve never really been a big fan of open primaries, but I can understand that’s how Hawaii does things. After all, Hawaii’s societal and political culture is generally much more laid-back than the mainland, so “on primary day, any voter is free to vote in any party’s primary” would seem to make sense in the context of Hawaii’s laid-back culture.