by Wendy Bucchieri
I don’t know where the idea of open primaries came from or the history of how they began in Vermont. I was originally from Connecticut and when you registered to vote you had to declare your party affiliation. Only if you were registered in a political party, could you take part in that party’s primary.
Of course, when you voted in the regular election, you could choose to vote for whoever you wanted- regardless of your party affiliation. Being registered to a party didn’t bind you to vote for only that “party”, because elections are free and you are free to vote for your choice.
The “party” system is like being on teams. Each party gets to put forth its “best players” and the members of that team get to vote on which one they want if there is more than one member jockeying for the same position. However, open primaries in Vermont side step this fair process.
Imagine your favorite football team has made it to the Super Bowl. They made it against all odds, and worked so hard to get there. In the 3rd quarter, the opposing team dresses some of its players in your team’s uniform. They infiltrate your team and sabotage its plays.
This is exactly what happens in Vermont during primary elections. Open primaries are not “fair”. Candidates work very hard to get elected. They have to gather signatures to be on the ballot and need to garner support in each state to win their party’s primary. Local and state candidates sometimes have an even steeper uphill battle.
Case in point, the RNC (Republican National Convention) will be taking place this week. The GOP of Vermont will be sending its delegates to Milwaukee to cast the votes for candidates Vermont Republicans chose in the primaries. Seven of those delegates will go to Nicki Haley. Here is the rub. Most of those votes, I would wager, were not cast by Republican Vermonters, but by Progressives, Democrats and Independents who asked for a Republican primary ballot.
Rather than vote on their own party’s primary ballot, because there was no real contest there, many people took the Republican ballot to vote “against” Trump. Opposing “team” members got to influence the vote of “team Republican”. In Vermont this is legal, but it is neither fair nor ethical.
If elections are to be free and fair, we need to do away with open primaries. They give rise and opportunity to the darker proclivities of human nature and destroy the integrity of the democratic processes of our constitutional Republic.
Join me in asking our legislators to do away with open primaries. Remember, the next time it won’t be Trump, it might be your favorite candidate that the other teams hate. Let’s not have a system that encourages chicanery or political subterfuge. Vermonters, we can do better. The golden rule applies here.