Alabama Republicans are expected to vote on a resolution this month that has the backing of its top officials that could lead to sweeping changes in how primary elections are administered.
Alabama GOP Chairman John Wahl confirmed on Monday that one of the resolutions under consideration at the party’s summer meeting in Montgomery is to close primaries.
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“The ALGOP Resolution Committee is in the process of finalizing what will be presented to the State Executive Committee on August 13,” said Wahl in a statement to AL.com. “One of those resolutions is concerning closed primaries.”
Wahl, in June, said the state GOP is “fully supportive” of registering voters to a closed primary format.
A change in how Alabama structures its primary election requires a vote of the Alabama Legislature. The Legislature consists of a Republican supermajority, a make-up that is unlikely to change after the November general election.
Some lawmakers believe the Legislature will follow the lead set forth by the state GOP leadership.
Alabama is one of 15 states in the U.S. that operates its primary in an “open” setting. Voters, during the primaries, tell a poll worker which ballot they want – Republican or Democrat – but they cannot vote in both. If there is a runoff, voters can only vote in the party contest in which thy case their ballot during the main primary.
In a closed primary, a voter has to pre-register as a Republican or a Democrat in order to participate in that party’s political primary. Independent voters, and those who are not registered before the primary, cannot participate.
Nine states have closed primaries.
A host of other states have partially close or partially open primaries, which can place limits on who is allowed to participate in an election.
Wahl has said that the state GOP has long wanted to close the state’s primaries over concerns about Democratic interference.
But the issue became more pronounced this year after the May 24 primary. Among the concerns was whether cross-over Democratic voting led to Auburn councilman Jay Hovey to defeat incumbent Alabama State Senator Tom Whatley in a contest determined by a single vote.
Critics of moving to a close primary believe the system will lead to voter suppression during an election that is already experiencing dour turnout. This year’s primary election had a turnout of 23% of registered voters.
The June 21 runoff’s turnout was 13%, which ranked as among the worst election turnouts in Alabama in the past 35 years.
Alabama joins other states with open primaries such as Georgia and Tennessee where elected officials are contemplating a structural change in the primary to require party registration in order to participate. Within the past decade, only Idaho in 2013, has moved from an open to a close primary.
A few other states, like Nevada and Pennsylvania, are contemplating a change in the other direction – from closed to open.
