MONTGOMERY — The House Ethics and Campaign Finance Committee passed on Tuesday, along party lines, a bill that would close Republican and Democratic primaries in Alabama.
State Rep. Ernie Yarbrough (R-Trinity) filed legislation recently to close primary elections in Alabama.
Open primaries allow voters to participate in party primaries without being registered members of that party. Closed primaries generally require a voter to be a registered member of a party to vote in the election.
“It gives the most fair and honest chance of structural integrity to reinforce that party primaries are for the purpose of those parties choosing their nominees and their local and state committee members,” Yarbrough said.
The bill was opposed by the three Democrats on the committee.
“No one, I’ve been here for 16 years, no one has ever come to me and said, ‘Hey man, why don’t y’all close your primaries.’ It’s never been an issue up until recently. This is not the state of Alabama’s fight. It’s the Republican Party’s fight,” State Rep. Chris England (D-Tuscaloosa) said in committee.
The bill now heads to the House floor where it could be considered as early as Thursday.
Under existing law, Alabama is an open primary state. There is no state law requiring a voter to register his or her party affiliation when registering to vote. The bill would allow a voter to register a political party affiliation. The bill would require a voter to be registered with a political party to vote the party's ballot in a primary election or a primary runoff. The bill would prohibit an elector from changing his or her political party affiliation during a blackout period beginning 60 days before a primary election.
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