Improving the Presidential Nomination Process: Instantaneous Party Affiliation Changes
Originally published
on GrasstopsUSA.com.
Currently, in most states, both major political parties
require that, in order to be eligible to vote in a given party’s primary, a
person register as a member of that party several weeks or even months in
advance of the actual primary election. This requirement is a major inequity of
the current Presidential nomination process, and it substantially inhibits
voters’ true preferences from being represented in the primary results.
To improve
the Presidential nomination process, it is necessary for both parties to permit
voters to declare their party affiliation at
the time they cast their ballots on the day of the primary. Essentially, a
voter should be able to choose on the day of the primary whether he wishes to
vote as a Republican or a Democrat – but he should only be able to vote in one
of the two parties’ elections.
What the
current registration deadlines overlook is a candidate’s ability to galvanize
support not only from long-time members of his party but also from current members
of the other party and from
independents. These individuals, inspired by the candidate’s message, may wish
to join the candidate’s party and support him in the primaries. Such decisions
can be made at any time prior to a primary election. If a candidate campaigns
strongly and convincingly, he will likely persuade at least some people outside
his party to support him. Such an accomplishment creates major benefits not only
for the candidate himself, but also for his party. After all, his campaigning
might substantially boost his party’s membership and therefore render it more
influential in the future. The current system in most states penalizes candidates who attract this
kind of support by preventing new supporters from changing their party
affiliations in time for their votes to count.
This
proposal is not radical or impossible to implement. Several states have already
done away with party registration deadlines and hold open primaries where
voters can change their party affiliations at the polls. For the Republican
primaries and caucuses, these states are Alabama, Arkansas,
Georgia, Idaho,
Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota,
Mississippi, Missouri, Montana,
North Dakota, Ohio, South
Carolina, Tennessee, Texas,
Vermont, Virginia, Washington,
and Wisconsin. Some other states,
such as New Hampshire, North Carolina,
Rhode Island, and West Virginia,
permit independents to vote in the Republican primaries. Thus, a total of 23
states have made some significant allowance for people to shift their party
affiliations on or shortly before the primary – or otherwise to support the
candidate who appeals to them the most. Now it only remains for the other 27
states to institute open primaries and do away with their party registration
deadlines.
The state
that needs the most dramatic reforms in its Presidential nomination process is Wyoming.
The Republican nomination process in Wyoming
does not even directly permit individual voters to select the candidate of
their choice. This year, on August 22,
2007 – almost four and a half months prior to the January 5, 2008, Wyoming
Conventions – voters elected delegates to these conventions from each county.
Then, on January 5, the convention delegates voted to elect the delegates to
the Republican National Convention. It is absurd to have the people’s input be
so indirect and so early in the election season. After all, colossal changes in
public opinion can occur during four and a half months. In the Republican race,
both Sam Brownback and Tom Tancredo dropped out between the election of the
Wyoming delegates and the Wyoming conventions; furthermore, Ron Paul achieved
tremendous gains in fundraising and public support, Mike Huckabee became one of
the top three candidates, John McCain lost and then regained his frontrunner
status, and Rudy Giuliani declined to fifth or sixth place in the polls and the
Iowa caucuses. In addition, hundreds of debates, interviews, public statements,
commentaries, and discussions involving the candidates took place. Surely, the
voters need to be permitted to take this new information into account before
making their choice.
In the
Wyoming Conventions, Mitt Romney received the majority of delegates and
approximately 67% of the vote. While Romney has performed well in the other
primaries, he has performed nowhere near that
well. In Iowa, Romney received 25% of the vote; in New
Hampshire, he got 32%. In Michigan,
Romney got his highest total so far from a direct vote – 39%. Even if Romney’s
support in Wyoming exceeds the
highest of these numbers, it is unlikely that it exceeds them by a factor
greater than 1.7. Thus, it is likely that the nomination method in Wyoming
has distorted the true preferences of the voters; had the people been permitted
to vote in open primaries and to register with the Republican Party on the day
of the primaries, the percentages for each candidate would have been different.
Arbitrary
barriers to representing voters’ true preferences need to be done away with in
order to ensure a fair nomination process and to prevent most voters from
having to decide between the lesser of two evils on the day of the general
election.
G. Stolyarov II is a science
fiction novelist, independent philosophical essayist, poet, amateur
mathematician, composer, contributor to Enter Stage Right, Le Quebecois
Libre, Rebirth of Reason, and the Ludwig von Mises Institute, Senior Writer for The Liberal Institute, weekly columnist for GrasstopsUSA.com,
and Editor-in-Chief of The Rational
Argumentator, a magazine championing the
principles of reason, rights, and progress. Mr. Stolyarov also publishes his
articles on Helium.com and
Associated
Content to assist the spread of rational ideas. His newest science fiction
novel is Eden against the
Colossus. His latest non-fiction treatise
is A Rational
Cosmology. His most recent play is Implied Consent. You can also view his YouTube Videos.
Mr. Stolyarov can be contacted at gennadystolyarovii@yahoo.com.
Recommend
this page.
This
TRA feature has been edited in accordance with TRA’s Statement
of Policy.
Click here to
return to TRA's Issue CXLI Index.
Learn about Mr.
Stolyarov's novel, Eden against the Colossus, here.
Read Mr. Stolyarov's new comprehensive treatise,
A Rational Cosmology, explicating such terms as the universe,
matter, space, time, sound, light, life, consciousness, and volition,
here.
Read Mr. Stolyarov's new four-act play, Implied
Consent, a futuristic intellectual drama on the sanctity of
human life, here.
The
Rational Argumentator