CLOSING OHIO'S PRIMARY ELECTIONS

In Tashjian v. Republican Party of Connecticut, 479 U.S. 208 (1986), the Supreme Court addressed the freedom of political parties to associate with independent voters by deciding that states cannot impose a closed primary system because it denies the political party its right under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to enter into political association with individuals of its own choosing.

Ohioans have seen the results of party hopping. Disaffected Democrats by the thousands left the Democrat Party in May of 2022. The intent of these Democrats was to vote in the primary for a Republican candidate because they had so little faith that their candidate might win (Nan Whaley) in the General Election. Since 2022 was a split primary, those same Democrat voters that had become Republicans switched back to being Democrats in the August portion of the 2022 primary election.

Is it legal to close Ohio's Primary Election?

While it is no longer possible to close Ohio's Primary election by traditional means - Ohio could lead the nation with an untraditional solution to party hopping.

Why Party Hopping is a Bad Thing

Rush Limbaugh famously encouraged Republicans in Ohio to crossover and pull a Democrat ballot in the 2008 primary to vote for Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama. The intent of "Operation Chaos" was clear, Republicans saw that Hillary Clinton would be easier to beat in the General Election.

Both Democrats and Republicans have used open primaries to try to manipulate the results of the primary election. Prior to 1986, most States had closed primaries. The reason why primaries were closed is that the primary was supposed to be a reflection of those registered with the party. Many states had a time requirement that you must be registered with the party for a certain period of time before you could vote. This waiting period helped to reduce party hopping. Primaries were arguably a better reflection of registered party members when Ohio had closed primaries.

Any attempt to close Ohio's primaries must not infringe on a party's or voter's right of Free Association

An Independent Primary

An independent primary can both close Ohio's primary elections while not depriving anyone of their right of free association. Additionally, an independent primary provides a mechanism for more competition in Ohio politics - effectively moving from a two-party system to a three-party system.

1. A political party at their State Convention (or by a vote of their State Central Committee as party rules allow) can decide a time frame (that is equal to or less than 48 months) that an elector must attain as an independent before they can vote in their party primary. (this won’t be ruled unconstitutional because of part 4 of this proposal)

2. Under this new system, Ohioans can choose to associate or disassociate with any political party at-will with an “affidavit of affiliation” or an “affidavit of disaffiliation.” Without necessarily being part of the party. Currently, political affiliation in Ohio is determined by which party ballot you pull in the primary election - there is currently no way to immediately disaffiliate from a party in Ohio.

3. Affiliated party primaries will generally work as they have -except for those in the process of qualifying for participation. They must fulfill the required time frame decided upon by the political party at their State Convention in part 1 of this proposal.

4. In this proposal, Ohio would create a new type of Independent primary ballot which includes issues along with affiliated and unaffiliated candidates. This Independent primary ballot would be for those electors who choose to not associate with a party or are not yet eligible to pull a party primary ballot. The Independent primary results would be divided into two parts: 1) The winners of unaffiliated candidates and issues and 2) the winners of affiliated candidates. For example: if there are three unaffiliated candidates and six affiliated candidates (three Republicans and three Democrats) - the highest vote-getting unaffiliated candidate wins for the unaffiliated and the highest vote-getter for the affiliated candidates wins for their party.

5. A political party can decide at their State Convention (or by a vote of their State Central Committee as party rules allow) if they want to select the winner of their respective primary alone (solely from the party's primary ballot) to represent them in the general election -or- they can decide to add in the vote totals for the Independent primary results for the affiliated candidates (who also get voted on the Independent primary ballot) in order to determine the winner.

Ohioans have had a Red (Republican) and a Blue (Democrat) primary for ages. It is time to level the playing field with a Red, White (Independent), and Blue primary.

PROBATIONARY VOTERS

Creating a classification of probationary voters is important. Parties would be allowed to determine that a voter for their party that pulls their ballot can be considered probationary. A party may state that anyone who has voted in four or fewer primaries is considered a probationary member. Probationary votes would be counted in the total but would be segregated for voter analysis. This type of analysis can greatly aid in the prevention of party hopping.

The additional classification of probationary voters can help political parties in a multitude of ways. It can show how a party is growing or shrinking and the rate at which the party is converting Independents. Additionally, a party may choose to prohibit probationary voters from being elected to County or State Central Committees. The party could pass rules that before a person can become a nominee for office that is supported by the party that they are no longer a probationary member of the party. This helps to stop party hopping by making affiliation more valuable.

PUBLIC CAUCUSES

Allowing for the creation of caucuses to be recognized on the partisan primary ballots and independent primary ballots: A caucus would have to collect 5,000 petitioners every 4 years for ballot eligibility for each party and for Independents.

An example: a Republican Freedom Caucus member would be represented as State Representative John Doe (R)(F). The intent here is that different caucuses may stand for different things within the party and help aid in voter education and better voter alignment with candidates.

Many parties no longer draft (or adopt for themselves) current State-specific or County-specific platforms and have abandoned emphasizing a party platform at all. Yet, it is the principled platform of a party that helps to inform the masses. Allowing for the adoption of a caucus (and through the caucus, a promotion of what its supporters stand for) will better help voters make an informed alignment. If a caucus is popular enough, it can positively pressure a party to adopt the caucus measures as part of its platform. Though a party platform can be very broad, a caucus platform may be very narrow, studied, and specific while generating great interest during an election.

Caucus platform alignment would be very important for Independents because there is no party platform. For example, John Doe (U)(C), could be an Unaffiliated Conservative while another, Jane Doe (U)(S), could be an Unaffiliated Socialist. Voters could also voluntarily identify with a caucus. This would help parties to better market to voters.

Additionally, some minor parties may choose to become a caucus within a major party, or possibly a caucus within all major parties and with unaffiliated voters. There would be several advantages for ineffective minor parties in doing this. Becoming a caucus would allow former minor parties to more easily support candidates that have a chance of winning and allow them to be more effective.