Florida Initiative to Cut Off Election Administration Funding for Closed Primaries

The Florida Fair & Open Primaries organization is sponsoring a statewide initiative that would eliminate funding for the election administration of primaries, if that primary was closed to independent voters. See the text here.

The initiative would have been more feasible if it permitted parties to nominate by convention. If the initiative passed, parties would still be compelled to nominate by primary, yet they would be forced to pay for the primary. Under an Eighth Circuit opinion from Arkansas won by the Republican Party, it is unconstitutional to force a party to nominate by primary, if the government isn’t paying for it.