Texas has always had open primaries, ever since there have been primaries in Texas. On March 5, voters who chose the Republican ballot saw 13 non-binding questions about policy. Proposition Nine was, “The Republican Party of Texas should restrict voting in the Republican primary to only registered Republicans.” It passed with 72%. The unofficial vote totals are: yes 1,614,331; no 604,801.
Somewhat odd phrasing, given that in Texas it’s voting in a party’s primary, or at a minor party’s convention, that makes you “affiliated” with that party, expiring at the end of the year. Technically you can also do it by taking an oath, but nobody does that. As of Jan 1 of each year, there are no “registered Republicans” in Texas, even if you take the state’s “affiliated” to effectively mean the same thing as registered.
Presumably what they mean is they want legislative action to create a more typical partisan voter registration system and to then have closed (or perhaps closed if the party so chooses) primaries. But I suspect a resolution worded that way wouldn’t have performed as well, though it probably still would have passed. This makes it sounds like it’s an option the party already has and can exercise on its own under current law, which isn’t the case.
ONE MORE REASON FOR NOOOO PRIMARIES
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PR
APPV
TOTSOP
ANY TX GOP SECESSION POLICY ???
Good idea. Only Republicans should vote in Republican primaries.
Why where these questions only on the Republican ballot and not on the Democratic ballot. I think this is clearly voter suppression. Separating the two parties look just like the segregated schools I attended as a child in east Texas.
First of all segregated schools were better. I went to them too and we had teacher led school prayer to Jesus, creation science, and saluted the flag in public school. We saluted the Confederate flag too. I still do. We need that again as a country and with God’s help we shall have it.
And second they were not on the demon rat ballots because they are questions for Republicans. Democrats lost their way with FDR and Truman. They are nothing but demon rats now.
This is already part of the RPT platform. Party officials think that votes like this will put pressure on legislators to pass a party registration bill.
In 2023 there was a bill to impose party registration. But they were afraid that Democrats would show up at the primary and register as Republicans. So they required party registration to be made 90 days before the primary. But then they realized that most voters wouldn’t bother to register that early.
@AZ,
What part of self-evident truths and indefeasible do you not comprehend?
@FRC,
The parties choose what resolutions to put on their primary ballot. The Democrats realized it was a waste of time and no longer have them.
90 days before the primary is fine. Voters will adjust.