The Public Ballot: A Republican alternative to real election reform.
The public ballot proposal is not election reform – it’s exactly the opposite. The public ballot proposal perpetuates and safeguards the major party primaries as private political party functions. In spite of claims to the contrary, there is no attempt to eliminate voter or candidate exclusion. It’s a sham.
Is it true? Can Independents vote in presidential primaries?—Nope!
A few months before each primary election, articles begin to appear claiming that independents can vote in the upcoming major party primaries. Voters only need to submit a form requesting a partisan ballot, or in some cases, simply choose a partisan ballot on election day.
The “Hybrid Primary” – no voter should ever receive a blank primary ballot.
The hybrid primary is an open Top-Four “qualifying” election – all voters and candidates are allowed to participate, and only the top four candidates advance to the general election. Unlike a “simple” Top-Four however, the hybrid primary uses a two-stage vote tally to incorporate the closed major-party “nominating” elections.
Posted by Paul Wells on March 16, 2019