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Five years ago, Alabama native Frank Campus stood up before the Florida Constitutional Revision Commission and spoke out in support of the Sunshine State moving from closed to open primary elections.
When I was in Alabama, on the day of the election, you declare if youre a Democrat or a Republican and you get to vote, Campus said about Alabama, adding that he was shocked to learn in Florida that he needed to be registered with a political party in order to participate in their primary.
Then, to laughter, he added, You all dont let Alabama be a better state than Florida.
Alabama, though, could become like Florida and eight other states in closing its primary elections.
Primary elections are held to determine the nominees a party will send to the general election to face the nominee from the other party. In Alabama primary elections, voters tell the poll workers which ballot they want Republican or Democrat but they cant vote in both. If there is a runoff, voters can only vote in the party in which they cast their ballot during the main primary called crossover voting.
Alabama GOP Chairman John Wahl, in the weeks following the May 24 primary, is pushing for Alabamas Legislature to switch from the current open primary to a closed one.
Legislation is expected to be introduced during next springs session, and a final determination on the future of primary elections will be decided by the supermajority GOP Legislature.
Its something the party has wished to do, said state Rep. Matt Simpson, R-Daphne. If that is the wish of the party, then the Legislature should be able to accommodate that wish.
The current open primary allows any voter, no matter their political affiliation, to declare which partys ballot they want to vote on when they walk into the polling place.
Alabama is one of 15 states in the U.S. that operates its primary in an open setting.
Closing the primary requires the voter to pre-register as a Republican or a Democrat in order to participate in that partys political primary. Independent voters, and those who are not registered before the primary, cannot participate.
Another six states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, allows political parties to decide if unaffiliated voters or those not registered with the political party should be allowed to participate in the nominating contests before each election cycle.
Critics of closed primaries believe the system shuns voters from the process especially in states dominated by one political party, such as Alabama.
Its a mess, said John Opdycke, president of Open Primaries a non-profit based in New York that opposes efforts in states to close primaries to those not registered with that party. Alabama should not do this.
Wahl, though, said the recent GOP primary was rife with Democratic interference.
Aside from complaints about this years primary, Wahl said the states Republican Party has approved resolutions in the past supporting closed primaries.
The Alabama Republican Party is fully supportive of registering voters to a party in closed primaries, said Wahl. Looking at the turmoil in this election cycle, its clear for both Republicans and Democrats, its best to close the primary.
A few incidences have surfaced within the past month that have rankled Republicans.
The most notable include:
Alabama State Senator Chris Elliott, R-Daphne, said the involvement of crossover voters in District 27 race has Republicans concerned. He said that the state has become more staunchly conservative in recent years, and that Democratic voters are crossing over to participate in the GOP primaries because, in many cases, there are few Democratic primary contests on ballots.
I have no doubt, in my mind, that legislation will come up again and that the Republican Party, as a whole, will ask for that legislation, said state Senator Chris Elliott, R-Daphne. If you want to vote in a Republican Party primary, you should be a Republican.
Alabama Republican Party Chairman John Wahl
Alabama joins other states with open primaries Georgia, Tennessee, New Hampshire, Montana, Wyoming, and Missouri where elected officials are contemplating change to close them and require registration as a member with a particular political party before participating.
Within the past decade, only one state Idaho, in 2013 has moved from an open to a closed primary.
Idahos Republicans, who dominated state political office, does not allow unaffiliated voters to participate in the primary, whereas the Democratic Party is more open.
If initiated in Alabama, Wahl envisions the Secretary of States Office administering party registration. He said he was unclear on when the new primary structure could begin, deferring to future legislation that has not yet been written.
We want to look at what other states have done and present an election process that would best fit with (Alabamas) processes, Wahl said.
The move will generate critics, including some Democrats who believe closed primaries are akin to voter suppression.
One recent study presented to the Midwest Political Science Association last year suggested that closed primaries dilute participation among Asian American and Latino voters, who more frequently identify as independent voters than white and Black voters.
State Senator Vivian Figures, D-Mobile, said a closed primary could also lead to voter intimidation, especially in a highly charged political climate where polarization dominates.
If we are talking about Americans actually having that sacred right to vote or having to vote who they want to do and doing so in privacy we need to be going toward that end to make sure people feel more comfortable voting for who they want to rather than tactics being set up to vote in a certain way, she said.
There are states moving in other directions and away from closed primaries.
Maine, last month, approved a semi-open primary structure that allows people who are not registered with either party aka, independent voters to participate in primary voting beginning in 2024. According to published reports, 36% of Maine voters are registered as independents.
Efforts are underway in Nevada and Pennsylvania, also both closed primary states, to move from closed to open primaries.
In Nevada, where 23% of voters are registered as non-partisan, a ballot initiative could take place this year that would adopt open primaries and allow for ranked-choice voting.
Under ranked-choice voting, which is part of Louisianas general elections, voters get to rank their preferred candidates. If someone gets 50% plus one vote after all the first-choice votes are counted, then the election is over and the candidate wins. But if no one gets 50% plus one, its onto another round as ballot counters eliminate the candidate with the lowest number of first-place votes. The eliminated candidates second choice then gets redistributed as votes for the other candidates, and the reallocation of votes continues until someone reaches 50% plus one.
Nevadas state Supreme Court decided last week to allow voters in November the decide if their primaries should be opened.
In Florida, a ballot initiative in 2020, that would move the states primaries from closed to open fell 3 percentage points shy of passage. The initiative needed 60% of the vote, and it ended up getting 57%.
Alabama does not allow citizens initiatives, but voters do get to decide on constitutional amendments approved by the Legislature.
Opdycke, with Open Primaries, said support for closed primaries often comes from party activists or the diehards, such as partisan radio show hosts -- and those in charge of a political party at the state and county levels.
He blames the activists for wanting to shut out votes because they want to control the primary.
Everyone knows that 90% of districts in this country are won in the primary and not in the November (general) election, Opdycke said. Whether you are in New York City where its the Democratic Party or in Alabama where its the Republican Party, (the primary) is the election. There is no general election.
He said in Arkansas, where he said party activists are talking about closing the primaries, 45% of the Legislature does not have an opponent on the ballot in November. Another 45%, Opdycke said, has a token opponent and where the winner is easily predicted.
Voters want to vote in the primary where they can because thats the only election, he said. The party activists want to shut that out because they want to control that primary. Its a real fight.
Richard Winger, owner of Ballot Access News and a Libertarian activist in California, said he does not believe a switch from open to closed will have much impact in Alabama.
Critics of closed primaries, such as those in Idaho, say they lead to more extreme candidates being nominated and winning elected office.
Winger disagrees. The South tends to have the most extreme Republican politicians in the nation, though there are plenty in Arizona and Colorado, he said. The truth is it doesnt make any difference. If Alabama goes to closed primaries, it wont make a lot of difference. Democrats who want to vote in the Republican Party will switch their registration to Republican by the deadline.
Opdycke said one of the arguments against closing primaries is that the taxpayers fund elections. He said that public money should not finance elections that are restricted to certain voters belonging to a political party.
The parties, they want to have their cake and eat it too, he said. They say they are a private organization like an Elks or Rotary Club. But they want the public to fund this and the government to administer this private election. Its un-American and its called taxation without representation.
Winger said Opdyckes argument is not persuasive.
There are all kinds of elections that the government pays for that is not open to all voters, he said. There are some where landowners can vote because they are special districts, like an irrigation district. There is no principle that because a government pays for an election that everyone in a geographic area has to vote on it.
Opdycke said efforts to usher in closed primaries is not solely a Republican or Democratic function, noting that establishment Democrats in Nevada are pushing to maintain the status quo.
But he said Republicans, in recent years following the 2020 presidential election, have been energized to make changes.
This is not conservatives are bad, liberals are good issue, Opdycke said. Its more about people who want control are against (open primaries) and those who want more options and choices are for them.
Most Southern states, while contemplating the switch to a closed primary, have long operated under an open system.
Charles Bullock III, a political science professor at the University of Georgia and a scholar of Southern politics, said that less than 50 years ago, there was only one party in the South, the Democrats.
Once the Republicans became a competitor, no one thought, lets close this, said Bullock.
He said in Georgia, the effort to make the switch is the result of Republican Brad Raffensperger benefitting from crossover Democratic votes to win the partys nomination for Secretary of State.
Raffensperger, a conservative who refused to support former President Donald Trumps calls to overturn the 2020 election, barely cleared the 50% hurdle in May to avoid a runoff election. He defeated a Trump-backed challenger Rep. Jody Hice.
It was 70,000 individuals who voted in the Democratic primary two years ago who voted in the Republican primary this year, said Bullock. Republicans felt that Democrats nominated Raffensperger and created the margin in which he avoided the runoff.
Bullock said he believes the efforts to change the primaries are motivated by a belief unsupported by facts that an election was stolen or dissatisfaction on the outcome of a particular contest.
Thats what drives it rather than a long-standing effort to bring about change, Bullock said.
Elliott, the state senator from Daphne, said that in a close race like the Whatley-Hovey contest the crossover voting allowed in an open primary can be the difference.
But Wahl said that the Senate District 27 contest is not the reason to change the entire electoral system during primaries.
Besides, he said, nothing will stop non-Republicans from registering as a Republican so they can participate in the primaries.
People can still choose which party they would register with, Wahl said. The Alabama Republican Party welcomes the voters to vote Republican. We would expect the vast majority in the state to choose the Republican ballot.
Of course, being a registered Republican or Democrat doesnt affect a voters ability to cast a ballot for either candidate in the November general election.
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From open to closed: Why Alabama Republicans are pushing to change primary elections - AL.com