With Republican leadership in the Alabama House of Representatives recently calling to close the Republican primaries, State Auditor Andrew Sorrell, a former state representative, is calling out the same leadership for not taking action sooner.
The subject of closing the state’s primaries is a long-standing debate in Alabama, with renewed interest after claims from some in Democratic leadership.
SEE: Alabama Democrat Party vice chair calls for Democrats to vote in upcoming Republican special primary
Alabama has a special primary election on August 11 in some congressional districts due to federal action allowing the state to use previously barred congressional maps, potentially resulting in a 6-1 Republican map instead of the previous 5-2 map from the 2024 election.
Since there are no Democratic candidates in Congressional Districts 1, 2 and 7, some Democrats in the state are urging their members to influence the outcome in those districts, as Alabama does not have closed primaries.
House Majority Leader Paul Lee (R-Dothan) recently called for hefty Republican participation in the special primary, posting a statement on the social media page of the House Republican Caucus.
The statement did not apparently sit well with Sorrell, who left that body to obtain his current office.
According to Sorrell, if Republican leadership had prioritized the issue before, they would not be desperately calling for turnout in the primary, suggesting leadership engaged in political gamesmanship allowing a recent bill to not clear the legislature.
"No, the answer was to pass the bill when you had the chance, but y’all slow rolled it so it would 'accidentally' not pass,” Sorrell said in response. “This is a direct consequence of your own failure.”
State Rep. Ernie Yarbrough (R-Trinity) introduced the Safeguard Alabama Voter Engagement (SAVE) Act, which would have prohibited electors registered with a political party from voting a different political party ballot at a primary election or primary runoff election.
Despite passing the House floor in March, the bill failed to reach the Senate floor for a vote before the legislative session concluded a month later.
In talking to 1819 News, Yarbough acknowledged that his bill would not have gone into effect before the upcoming special primary. However, he was equally nonplussed that the legislation failed to reach the finish line.
“You know, the House sine died (adjourned for the final day) with over six hours of daylight left that we can work, and we never got to those bills.”
In the House, Republicans generally supported the bill, with a few exceptions. Democrats unanimously opposed it. The most vocal Republican pushback came from House Speaker Pro Tem Chris Pringle (R-Mobile), who aggressively opposed the bill from the House floor.
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