Two Montana legislators have asked legislative staff to draft bills to change Montana from an open primary state to a closed primary state. They are Senator Theresa Manzella (R-Hamilton) and Representative Shannon Maness (R-Dillon). The bills aren’t introduced yet. The Montana legislature’s website not only shows introduced bills, but also bills that are being drafted.
Montana has always had open primaries.
NEW JERSEY THREATENS TO MAKE BALLOT ACCESS MORE DIFFICULT
On December 9, bills were introduced in both houses of the New Jersey legislature to increase the number of signatures for independent candidates and the nominees of unqualified parties. The Assembly bill, AB 5117, cleared the State and Local Government Committee only three days later. It cleared the Appropriations Committee four days after that. Then, it passed the Assembly on December 19, by a vote of 46-27.
The Assembly vote was a party line vote. All “yes” votes were cast by Democrats; all “no” votes were cast by Republicans. Seven Assembly members did not vote, including six Democrats and one Republican.
The identical Senate bill, SB 3994, passed the Senate State Government Committee on December 19. It hasn’t had a vote on the Senate floor yet. The Senate is in recess and returns on Tuesday, January 14. Opponents of the bill are making strenuous efforts to defeat it on the Senate floor.
On January 25, the West Virginia Republican Party voted to close its primaries, starting in 2026. There are local partisan elections in 2025 and the change does not affect the 2025 elections. See this story. The Republican Party of West Virginia has been letting independents vote in its primaries starting in 1986, but unless the party changes its mind, that policy has now changed.
On January 28, Florida held primary elections for two special U.S. House elections. Florida only holds primaries when at least two candidates file for the nomination, so the only actual primaries were for the Republican and Democratic primaries. See the results here. The general election for these two seats, the First and the Sixth, will be April 1. There is a Libertarian in one race, and independents in both races.
Four bills have been introduced in the South Carolina legislature to switch the state from having open primaries, to either closed primaries or semi-closed primaries. The closed primary bills are H3310, S109, and S113. The bill for a semi-closed primary is H3396. All are pending in the Judiciary Committees of the house of introduction.
South Carolina has always had open primaries.
