By STEVE BRAWNER
This year’s open primary elections in Arkansas will be a little more closed, but only to Democrats seeking to vote in the Republican primary.
Traditionally, every Arkansas voter could vote in either the Republican, Democratic, or a nonpartisan primary. The latter voters cast a shorter ballot featuring only judicial and other nonpartisan races.
Last June, the Republican state committee voted to ban registered Democrats from voting in their primary. The rule doesn’t apply to members of other parties, and the Democrats don’t have a similar rule banning Republicans from their primary.
Most Arkansans, regardless of how they vote or what they call themselves, are not registered as a member of either party. When a person registers to vote, they can choose to do so as a Republican, Democrat, another party, or as “optional.”
There were 1,802,708 Arkansans registered to vote as of Wednesday, according to the secretary of state’s office. Eighty-seven percent – or roughly 1.568 million, chose “optional” when they registered. Meanwhile, 8.2%, or 147,423, registered as Republicans, and 4.8%, or 86,568, registered as Democrats. Rounding it out, 740 Arkansans are registered as Libertarians, 120 are Green Party members, six are nonpartisan, and somewhere in Arkansas there’s a single contrarian registered as “other.”
Some Republicans in recent years have argued that their primary should be reserved for Republicans. They’re concerned that crossover Democrats could affect the results.
On the other hand, some Republicans would be concerned about the candidates who would win if only registered party members voted. Those voters tend to be more partisan and more ideological than that 87% – much of which is conservative enough in Arkansas.
The compromise position Republicans adopted in last June’s state committee meeting was to ban only registered Democrats.
It’s good that they didn’t go further. Limiting the primaries to only registered Republicans would require voters to pledge allegiance to that party, or else not vote when it often matters most. In much of Arkansas, the real action often is in the Republican primary because the winners of those races will certainly go on to win the election in November. If you want to affect the outcomes, even if just a little bit, you often have to vote in the Republican primary.
What state Republicans passed was a party rule, not a state law passed by legislators. However, state law says parties may set their primary voter eligibility requirements, and county clerks are working to comply. When a registered Democrat approaches the election worker, the digital tablets used in all 75 counties will not give that voter the option of voting in the Republican primary, Secretary of State Elections Coordinator Leslie Bellamy said.
However, registered Democrats can change their voter registration at the polls to Republican, optional, or another party. The whole process should take 5-10 minutes, according to Margaret Darter, county clerk for Conway’s Faulkner County. Absentee voters also can change their party affiliation.
The new rule probably won’t affect that many voters. As noted earlier, there aren’t that many registered Democrats.
Those who have a party allegiance will want to help choose the candidates who will represent their party now and in the future.
The Democratic primaries are as interesting as the Republican primaries are this year. While Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders doesn’t have a Republican opponent, the Democrats have a contested primary with state Sen. Fred Love, D-Mabelvale, facing Supha Xayprasith-Mays.
Democrats also have a contested U.S. Senate primary between Hallie Shoffner and Lewisville Mayor Ethan Dunbar. They also have contested races in the 2nd and 4th Congressional Districts.
Finally, as Darter noted, if a person is a registered Democrat in Arkansas these days, they probably want to be one.
“I don’t anticipate this being a major problem,” said Darter. “It may be one or two people, and may be up to 10. There may not be any, because if you’ve told me your affiliation is Democrat, then you’re pretty solid that you’re a Democrat.”
Steve Brawner’s column is syndicated to 21 outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com.
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