The Supreme Court should have taken the case on the constitutionality of closed primaries — essential to the freedom of association and a system of quality control for American civic life.
Yet another great piece. When it comes to election security and integrity, this is something I’ve considered but never was passionate about. Now I am.
Please indulge me with my view of a Federal Election Integrity bill that should be passed and signed by 47 after we win the 2026 midterms.
1. Same day in person voting - no 30 day early voting windows
2. Government ID required and proof of registration
3. Proof of Citizenship required for registration
4. No ballet harvesting
5. Mail in ballots by request only. Request must include copy of ID, Registration and must be signature verified. Mail in ballot must be signature verified.
6. All ballots counted by hand on the same day in the precinct where voting occurred with 3 person (both party) verification. NO MACHINES!!
7. All vote tally’s must be reported by precinct on the day of voting - with some type of both party verification
8. No Rank Choice voting
9. No open primaries (thank you Rod)
10. No same day registration
That’s all I have for now. I’d love some comments!!
I've been ranting about this for 30(?) years. If someone is not a Card Carrying/Dues Paying member of a political Party, its none of your business who they nominate. On election Day you let them know if they did something smart or stupid.
There are some important facts about Florida that Mr. Grandstaff neglects to mention. In Florida, at least as it was into the 1990s, _all_ elections were partisan, down to city commissioner. In the county I lived, the Republicans were weak. This meant that in a typical election, there would be no Republican candidate for any of the local offices. This left political partisans facing a choice: register with the party you align with ideologically, and forfeit a voice in all local matters; Or else, register with a party you ideologically oppose, in return for a voice in local matters. Faced with a Hobson's choice such as this, the lawsuit by Polelle seems much more reasonable to me.
Except that that hasn't been the case in Florida -- or in the Arkansas I grew up in -- in decades.
I remember these arguments well from the 1980s. But the truth is, everybody just voted in the Democrat primary and it held back Republican growth for a couple extra decades.
As far as open primaries go, I vote in California so am subject to the Law of the Jungle Primary. This system was approved by the voters based on a misunderstanding of the political situation in the state (as well as the nation). The idea in back of the jungle primary was to offer partisans the opportunity to seek votes among independents, and also less committed members of other parties. Tacitly this treats the electorate as (mostly) a large blob in the center where there is an opportunity to reach cross-over voters. In actual fact, the electorate divides into discrete blocks of voters, with little interaction. Mr. Grandstaff's points about independent voters attest to this; so does the recent interview with Gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter, where she stated that she expects to win the California governorship without any support from Californians who voted for Trump in 2024. In this setting, conservatives can be crowded off the ballot, provided that they live in a sufficiently progressive district.
Yet another great piece. When it comes to election security and integrity, this is something I’ve considered but never was passionate about. Now I am.
Please indulge me with my view of a Federal Election Integrity bill that should be passed and signed by 47 after we win the 2026 midterms.
1. Same day in person voting - no 30 day early voting windows
2. Government ID required and proof of registration
3. Proof of Citizenship required for registration
4. No ballet harvesting
5. Mail in ballots by request only. Request must include copy of ID, Registration and must be signature verified. Mail in ballot must be signature verified.
6. All ballots counted by hand on the same day in the precinct where voting occurred with 3 person (both party) verification. NO MACHINES!!
7. All vote tally’s must be reported by precinct on the day of voting - with some type of both party verification
8. No Rank Choice voting
9. No open primaries (thank you Rod)
10. No same day registration
That’s all I have for now. I’d love some comments!!
Excellent!
Thank you. 🙏
I've been ranting about this for 30(?) years. If someone is not a Card Carrying/Dues Paying member of a political Party, its none of your business who they nominate. On election Day you let them know if they did something smart or stupid.
BTW could we go back to Election DAY?
Amen.
There are some important facts about Florida that Mr. Grandstaff neglects to mention. In Florida, at least as it was into the 1990s, _all_ elections were partisan, down to city commissioner. In the county I lived, the Republicans were weak. This meant that in a typical election, there would be no Republican candidate for any of the local offices. This left political partisans facing a choice: register with the party you align with ideologically, and forfeit a voice in all local matters; Or else, register with a party you ideologically oppose, in return for a voice in local matters. Faced with a Hobson's choice such as this, the lawsuit by Polelle seems much more reasonable to me.
Except that that hasn't been the case in Florida -- or in the Arkansas I grew up in -- in decades.
I remember these arguments well from the 1980s. But the truth is, everybody just voted in the Democrat primary and it held back Republican growth for a couple extra decades.
As far as open primaries go, I vote in California so am subject to the Law of the Jungle Primary. This system was approved by the voters based on a misunderstanding of the political situation in the state (as well as the nation). The idea in back of the jungle primary was to offer partisans the opportunity to seek votes among independents, and also less committed members of other parties. Tacitly this treats the electorate as (mostly) a large blob in the center where there is an opportunity to reach cross-over voters. In actual fact, the electorate divides into discrete blocks of voters, with little interaction. Mr. Grandstaff's points about independent voters attest to this; so does the recent interview with Gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter, where she stated that she expects to win the California governorship without any support from Californians who voted for Trump in 2024. In this setting, conservatives can be crowded off the ballot, provided that they live in a sufficiently progressive district.