This interesting news story describes how Arizona State Senator Sylvia Allen tried to persuade her audience to support the National Popular Vote Plan bill. Allen is a conservative Republican who supports the plan. She was speaking to a meeting of the Gila County Republican Party. The Arizona legislature is considering the idea, and the bill, HB 2456, has already passed the House.
Oregon election officials are sending a letter to all registered independent voters, explaining that if such voters wish to vote in the May 2016 primary (which includes a presidential primary), they have three choices: (1) do nothing, in which case that voter can only have a non-partisan primary ballot for non-partisan offices and ballot questions; (2) join either the Republican or Democratic Party; (3) request an Independent Party primary ballot. Of the three parties entitled to their own primary, only the Independent Party lets independents vote in its primary.
This article shows the text of the letter, toward the bottom.
The qualified parties not mentioned in the letter nominate by convention, not primary. They are the Libertarian, Green, Constitution, Working Families, and Progressive Parties.
On March 16, the individual who had challenged John Kasich’s ballot access petition in Pennsylvania withdrew his challenge. Therefore, Kasich is on the ballot. See this story. Thanks to the commenters who alerted me to this story.
Late in the day on March 16, the U.S. Supreme Court asked attorneys for Montana’s Secretary of State to respond to the Republican Party’s request for relief from the open primary. This shows that the Court is taking the Republican Party’s lawsuit seriously. The Republican Party of Montana objects to being forced to use an open primary, because the party says Democrats are voting in the Republican primary. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.
This CNBC analysis looks at the question of whether open primaries are better for Donald Trump than closed primaries are.
The article would be better if it acknowledged that there are three types of presidential primaries: open, semi-closed, and closed. Semi-closed primaries are primaries that allow independents to choose any party’s primary ballot, but won’t let members of one party choose another party’s primary ballot.
By contrast, open primaries let all voters have a free choice of any primary ballot. Reporters often don’t understand the three types of presidential primaries. The confusion is made worse by people who use the term “open primary” when they mean a blanket primary or a top-two primary. However, there are no presidential primaries that are top-two or blanket.
