Support Open Primaries. Do Not Support Party Registration.

I am an ardent defender of current Virginia election law as it pertains to its open nature and lack of party registration. Here are the reasons why. Since party registration inevitably leads to closed and semi-closed primaries, I will lead off with my arguments against party registration and then outline why I believe that open primaries enhance the democratic process and forge better candidates.

Party registration will further institutionalize the two party system in Virginia. People will only have the option to check whether they are Democratic, Republican, or independent. Virginians are very diverse in their viewpoints and should not be pigeonholed into a dichotomy that has shown to be very fluid over past 200 years.

Government should not be in the business of identifying the political persuasions of the people. People, regardless of their privately held beliefs, should be encouraged to exercise sound judgment in the selection of their public officials and their decisions on ballot referenda. It is not the government’s business to know who one chooses to affiliate with.

A state that has no party registration forces political candidates and parties to reach out to all people with their message, thus engaging more people in the process. Through publicly available voter histories, candidates and parties already know the propensity of voters through their primary participation, but still have to personally verify their stances through voter contact.

Party registration would just make elections more of a numbers game than it already is. Candidates would be able to identify their own party members and opposition through state party registration and fight over independents instead of reaching out to all voters. Without party registration, candidates would take more time interacting with unidentified voters and run into more people with opposing views. In my opinion, the latter is preferable because public policy in election law should encourage more discourse especially when the chance of hearing viewpoints from the opposing side is higher.

Most importantly, party registration is the step that is necessary to implement the ultimate goal which is closed primaries. I am strongly against closed primaries.

Several pieces of legislation that are working their way through the Virginia Assembly merely give parties the option to close their primaries or to allow participation from independents. In either case, the idea is to close participation from the other side.

I believe it is a good thing to have crossover support from the other party in a primary. This goes for both Democrats and Republicans. A direct, open primary that allows for participation by all citizens acts as a moderating force as candidates will be more inclined to cater to the mainstream than to the extreme.

Critics will argue that the opposing party will just use an open primary to sabotage their opponent by voting for the least desirable candidate. I believe that this effect is negligible and more often, people cross party lines to vote in the other primary for more ideal reasons.

A strong candidate with deep community ties will likely have the respect of both Democrats and Republicans alike. He or she should be able to use this to his or her advantage in a primary rather than be disadvantaged by having to play to the base against a more entrenched challenger from the party establishment in a closed system. We need more candidates with cross-cultural appeal since it is an elected official’s responsibility to represent all people, not just party members.

Furthermore, I believe it is in our best interest to have good choices to choose from in a general election. I believe that voting for the worst candidate in the opposing primary so that your guy can win in the general election is a dangerous game to play. Anything can happen in a two way race and if you tried to sabotage the other party and succeeded, that guy might luckily find himself in office. As a result, I exercise my right to vote in any primary I choose by voting for the best candidate because I want two good, competent individuals vying for office in the general election.

In order for us to have good choices, we must be free to vote in any primary we choose so that we can have a say on who those choices will be. In the past, I have voted in Democratic and Republican primaries for the person I believed would be the most competent official if elected. If the guy I voted for lost in the general election, I want to be confident to know that our government would still be in good hands with the other guy. That is why the people need to have a say in their general election nominees, not party bosses and the activist base.

Critics will argue that if I cared so much about having good choices on both sides that I should just register as an independent. That would be fine if independents were guaranteed access to any primary. However, as long as parties have the option to close the primary to just registered party members, independents will be disenfranchised. Critics will further add that I could just change my party registration before the primary to guarantee my access. That is true, but this is a time consuming step designed to further discourage people from participating in the primary.

Ultimately, advocates of party registration and closed primaries will argue that only Democratic and Republican party members should choose their own nominees for public office. Such a process would strengthen the parties and provide nominees who are more closely aligned to the parties’ ideals.

The argument makes sense, but ultimately, my desire is to weaken the political parties, not strengthen them. Democrats in public office do not only govern Democrats and Republicans in public office do not only govern Republicans. They are required to represent all people, including those who do not share their vision and ideals. Therefore, the people have a vested interest in making sure they have good choices on the ballot on both sides.

In Federalist #10, James Madison warned of the dangers of political factions whose interests are counter to the greater whole. The Democratic and Republican parties are the two biggest factions we have today (and they are factions that include even more factions). While people are free to associate with like-minded individuals, our government needs less partisanship and more cooperation. Our public policies should weaken political parties, not strengthen them.