The Arkansas Republican State Convention met on Saturday, June 8th, and adopted a rule to close the Republican Party Primary. What does this mean, and why close the primary?
What is a primary election?
A primary election is the election held by a political party to choose its nominees for the general election. The primary election is held early in the year prior to the general election in November.
What is a closed primary?
A closed primary means a voter must first affiliate himself or herself with the political party before voting in a political party’s primary.
Does the legislature have to approve the closed primary?
No. State law leaves it up to each political party to decide by party rule how to conduct its primary election. (For more information see: Closed Primaries: Is a Law Change Necessary?)
How do I register as a Republican?
It is easy. Your voter registration card already has a place for you to declare your affiliation with a political party. All you need to do is to update your voter registration card to add your political party affiliation as Republican. Voter registration is handled by your County Clerk.
Do any other states have closed primaries?
Fourteen states have closed primaries in one or more of the political parties. The closest state with a closed Republican primary is our neighbor, Oklahoma.
Not all states have primaries. Five states select nominees through a party caucus. In caucus states there are many caucus locations throughout the state where party members participate in a meeting to vote for a nominee. The most famous caucus state is Iowa.
Does the rule change affect voting in the general election?
No. In the general election all registered voters may vote whether they are Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, or Independents.
Why did closed primaries become an issue?
Arkansas Republicans began to seriously consider holding closed primaries after Democrats openly encouraged Democrat voters to cross over and vote in the Arkansas Republican primary in 2022. The Democrat effort in Arkansas was part of a larger Democrat effort in many states, and they poured millions of dollars of Democrat money into Republican primaries. In areas where Democrats were competitive with Republicans, they tried to help Republican candidates they considered easier to beat in the general election. Where Democrats were not competitive, Democrats tried to help Republicans whose views were less conservative. (See: Closed Primaries on Republican Committee Agenda)
The 2022 election was not the only time Democrats tried to sabotage the Republican primary. Skip Rutherford, who was a key advisor to Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign and later the Dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, recounted the Democrat effort in 1992 to stop Congressman Tommy Robinson from becoming the Republican nominee for governor against Democrat Bill Clinton. Democrats feared Robinson might beat Clinton or make the campaign so negative that Clinton baggage would be exposed. Democrats were urged to cross over and vote for Sheffield Nelson in the Republican primary. If Clinton were to be defeated in the governor’s race, it would have derailed his hopes to run for President.
Rutherford thinks the Democrat effort worked, stating:
“Nelson got 54% of the vote, defeating Robinson 47,246 to 39,731. Twice as many people voted in the Republican gubernatorial primary in Pulaski County in 1990 as had voted in the 1988 GOP presidential primary, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
“Then, in the general election, Clinton got 57% of the vote to beat Nelson.”[i]
Are all Republicans happy with closed primaries?
No. Some Republican incumbents rely on crossover votes to win in the Republican primary because they are more liberal than the Republican faithful. Some of these Republicans refer to themselves as “pragmatic” when going against the platform of the Arkansas Republican Party. (Recall supporters of the left such as John Brummet have always applauded the “pragmatic” Republicans.)
Some Republican insiders also want Democrat crossover votes so they can boast about how many people voted in the Republican primary. To them it doesn’t matter whether the candidate is conservative or a RINO.
[i] Robinson’s moment in spotlight recalled, Arkansas Democrat Gazette, July 12, 2024
