Alabama Republican Party chairman State Rep. Scott Stadthagen (R-Hartselle) recently joined "Priority Talk" with Greg Davis to discuss legislation to close the state's primaries. Under current law, Alabama is an open primary state, meaning there is no requirement for an elector to register their party affiliation when registering to vote.
Stadthagen, who helped sponsor the bill, told Davis that under HB541, independent voters would not be required to choose a party for general elections.
"If you're an independent, the primary election is not for you, right? The primary election is for our parties, Republicans and Democrats, to choose their best candidate for the general election," said Stadthagen. "That's it. It is black and white and plain as day. If you're an independent voter, you don't really align with a party. That election is not for you."
He added, "Currently, right now, when you walk up and show them your driver's license, they're going to ask you for a Republican or Democrat ballot. They do that for a reason. Because you're either supporting the Republicans or the Democrats. If you're an independent and you grab a Republican ballot right now, you're registered on the Republican registry right now as a Republican voter. Like it or not, you are."
According to Stadthagen, the general election is the "independent election cycle."
"If you're an independent, I find it very hard, policy-wise, for you to say that you support both parties," he argued. "We do agree on some legislation. An independent election is the general. Where you go in, there's one ballot, and there's no party affiliation. You show them your ID. They give you a ballot with everyone on it. That is an independent election cycle, right there. That's when you vote."
The chairman touched on the short process of changing party affiliation should HB541 be signed into law.
"The only thing this bill does is make it to where you are a registered Republican voter," explained Stadthagen. "Now, if you change your vote, you can do that. The next primary, all you do is 60 days before, you fill out the paperwork to swap to the other party. It's that simple."
RELATED: Closed primary bill heads to Senate with unknown future
The Alabama House of Representatives passed HB541 in March, and it is now before the Senate.
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