MONTGOMERY — The House Ethics and Campaign Finance Committee held a public hearing on Wednesday on a bill that would close Republican and Democrat primaries in Alabama.
State Rep. Ernie Yarbrough (R-Trinity) filed legislation last week to close primary elections in Alabama.
A vote is scheduled on the bill in committee on Tuesday morning. About 10 people spoke in favor of the bill at the public hearing, and four spoke against.
Recently elected Alabama Republican Party chairman and State Rep. Scott Stadthagen (R-Hartselle) said the current open primary system “isn’t fair.”
“This is a topic that we’ve been discussing for years now. I think it’s very important to both sides of the field,” Stadthagen said at the public hearing. “I think it’s important that you don’t interact with the different parties.”
Gerrick Wilkins, a lifelong Republican and Alabama small business owner, said the legislation would block outside influence from interfering in Republican primaries.
“Alabama needs this measure to safeguard our primaries right here at home,” Wilkins said. “Alabama is currently an open primary state which means Democrats can cross over and vote in Republican primaries and Republicans can do the same. This dilutes the voice of true party members and allows interference in who becomes our nominees.”
The bill was opposed by the Association of County Commissions of Alabama and the League of Women Voters.
Sonny Brasfield, executive director of the Association of County Commissions of Alabama, said his organization opposes a statute that would require a county government to administer a closed party primary.
Brasfield said at the public hearing, “The election process at the local level is complicated and expensive. If a bill is going to move forward like this, we’d request that the state operate this closed process if the parties are not going to operate it and that the state pay for it, not county government.”
“If the parties wish to close their primaries, that’s not our business,” he continued. “We encourage you to make the bill permissive, let the parties make their decision if they wish to close their primary and then let the parties administer the primary, let them defend the primary, let them pay for the primary, let them try to hire retired school teachers and other persons in Alabama who will come work on the frontlines and be the poll workers who have to tell people they can’t vote. This has been our policy for almost a decade.”
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.
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.
The topic of closed primaries has garnered new interest in recent weeks due to leaked audio of an internal House Republican caucus meeting where House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) said, "I could give a shit about the Republican Party." The comment came after a caucus discussion over former House Majority Leader Scott Stadthagen (R-Hartselle) running for Alabama Republican Party chairman. Ledbetter later told 1819 News that after the audio was leaked that he wholeheartedly supports the Republican Party and that his priority was getting every Republican member of the Alabama House reelected and growing the party's supermajority.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email [email protected].
Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
