Utah is the only state in which no one can run in a partisan primary unless that candidate receives substantial support at a party endorsement meeting. An initiative is about to be launched in Utah to change that, so that anyone can gain a place on a primary ballot regardless of what happens at party meetings. Here is an op-ed by Bryan Hyde, supporting the present system.
The op-ed doesn’t address one of the strongest criticisms of the existing system, which is that some voters can’t attend a party meeting because they are temporarily away, or because they must work at the times and dates of these meetings, or because they don’t have transportation to the meetings. The same criticisms are sometimes made in Virginia, which permits any party to nominate entirely by convention instead of by primary. This year, the Virginia Republican Party nominated its statewide nominees by convention instead of by primary.
I have no problem with a party (a voluntary association) deciding not to wean more of taxpayer money by nominating via convention. However, it’s also wrong for states to force candidates to be chosen by one method or another. Also, generally speaking if the people rather have a party not choose via convention, usually their voice is heard at the voting booth, as will be the case this year with Virginia’s statewide elections. The GOP nominating convention produced candidates who would have never emerged from a primary, and those fringe candidates will likely lose (EW Jackson falls into that category, and possibly Ken Cuccinelli).
Parties can get around the absentee problem in various ways at conventions; this is the age of the internet, after all.