Closed primary maintains party integrity

Frontiersman editorial board

The primary is over, but the talk of closed versus open lingers on. Though there are no official statistics available, it seems the new, closed system generated a lot of grumbles, at least in the Mat-Su Valley. In a state where a large number of voters belong to third parties or are registered as undeclared, the idea of a closed primary seems to fly in the face of an independent-minded electorate. Does it

really, though?

The closed primary concept says that if you are registered within a given party, you must vote a straight ticket with that party. If you are undeclared, you may choose the straight ticket of any one party and choose only from those candidates. It eliminates the ability of voters to "vote for the best candidate," regardless of party affiliation.

The purpose of a primary election is to allow the members of each party to select their best candidate for each race. Nobody wins anything in a primary except their party's nomination. While many Alaskans choose not to get locked up in the politics of a single party, others do declare their affiliation. Candidates, too, may decide whether they want to run on a party ticket or run as independents. If a candidate chooses to run as a Republican, it does make sense that fellow Republicans should decide if he or she is deserving of the party's nomination to run.

A closed primary ensures the integrity of all parties, though it has been pointed out that it may favor a party that is dominant at a particular time. The question then is, why is that party dominant? Right now, Republicans are fairly dominant in Alaska politics. They have the most candidates, the most registered voters, and they win more elections than any other party. While Democrats, third parties and undeclared voters have good reason to be unhappy about that, it doesn't change the fact that more people are attracted to the Republican party right now.

Now that the primaries are over, each party has advanced its favored candidates on to the General election where, indeed, we can vote for whomever we choose. It is right to let the parties choose their own candidates, and now the strength and resolve of independents and others will show. When the next round of elections is over, real decisions will have been made. Many of those decisions will have been swayed by voters who do not belong to a major party. It's a healthy system, and we should be proud of it.