South CarolinaPing
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Posted on 03/14/2011 5:02:13 PM PDT by Libloather
SC Republicans Want State Primary Laws Changed
Judge To Rule On Closed Primaries By Party
Jennifer Phillips reporting
UPDATED: 11:28 am EST March 11, 2011
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- When people line up to vote, many consider themselves Democrats, Republicans or independents. That could change for primaries, if South Carolina Republicans have their way.
"The fact that a Democrat or a Republican can cross party lines and somehow influence the outcome of the voting and the nomination I don't think is fair," said James Farrington, a voter.
That is also how state GOP leaders and the Greenville Republican Party feel, too. On Thursday, the groups filed a federal lawsuit to get a law changed, claiming the law on the books now is unconstitutional.
"There are eight laws right now that are on the books that we think should be stricken and then the General Assembly would re-define those laws," said Karen Floyd, the State Republican chairwoman. If the law changes, it would mean voters would have to register with a specific party before voting in a primary election. Right now, no one keeps track of party affiliation. No matter what happens with the case, nothing will change how people vote during a general election.
Attorney Fletcher Smith represented a group of voters made up of tea party members, independents and members of the Black Caucus. They said they want to leave the process the way it is now.
"Now, it looks like the Republicans are setting up a process where they don't want tea party people, independents, blacks, whites, red or yellow, that are not part of the club, to be a part of the political process," Smith said.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxcarolina.com ...
We’re in dire need of closed primaries in Michigan.
PING
If you are not a Republican and desire to vote in the GOP primary in Pa, tough luck. That’s the way it should be everywhere. Screw libs voting in MY primary. Bob
Some Tea Party members (or some who claim to be) is not representative of Tea Party supporters in general.
I’ve been opposed to open primaries in the past but there is just too much screwing around to keep them open.
Exactly what I was going to say. I HATED ending up with McCain due to the primary crossovers.
There was technically no 08 democrat presidential primary in Michigan yet plenty of democrats made it out to vote.
I hadn’t really thought about it before but it really looks like a setup looking back at it.
I believe Hillary beat Obama in every closed Dem primary; he won with “caucuses”, where “excitement level” matters more than actual votes.
I think her supporters have never gotten over that.
It looks like Clinton supporters got their first taste of SEIU/ACORN tactics in the caucuses.
That is surprising to me. I figured the Baraq - Hillary shootout was all-consuming for the Dems.
Now in 2012 if there's no challenger for Baraq, I'd expect Dems to go big for Romney in open primary states.
Yay! Close the primaries. They need to be closed everywhere.
Works both ways.
A few years ago I voted in the Democrat primary for Jeff Fieger to run against the incumbent Governor Engler. Because he would be the easiest to beat (which he was) and there was no competition for Engler.
My personal opinion is that the state should get out of the primary business altogether. It’s party business and the parties should organize, run, and pay for that function. Primaries are a public subsidy to the entrenched parties.
They did; they were totally outmaneuvered by the “media” as much as anything else. Even BJ Clinton was taken aback; the “first black president” got snookered by the “first Mulatto president”...
Only dues-paying political party supporters should vote in their respective primary. Enough of this independent crap, because there are rarely any independent candidates on the ballot anyway.
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Well, if that is the case, I’ll NEVER vote in another primary, because PIGS WILL FLY before I pay a one THIN DIME or one COPPER PENNY to the Republicans (much less the Democrats) to vote in their primaries). Now, if it’s a matter of simply REGISTERING, perhaps I could hold my nose and do THAT. But I’ll pay no dues — and in fact, that would amount to a “poll tax” anyway so, it will never happen — I hope.
About time.
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