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Ask HN: Why are so many US States a closed primary state?
It would seem to me that closed primaries are a big issue with politics in the US.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- jarsin 2y agoWhy? It's mainly so people of that party are the ones choosing the candidates for that party. Without closed the other side purposely tries to sabotage the otherside by voting for the worst candidate.
- eat-them-rich 2y agoIs that based on fact or is that the narrative they "mostly liberal states" want you to think?
- eat-them-rich 2y agoFor example in the State of Oregon there are ~1M non party registrations. ~900k Dems, ~700k Republicans. Oregon is a closed primary state, thus the greater majority is not represented in the primary. https://sos.oregon.gov/elections/Pages/electionsstatistics.aspx https://sos.oregon.gov/elections/Pages/electionsstatistics.a...
- jarsin 2y agoHow many of those non party voters even care enough to vote in a primary. My guess is very few and if they did then they should switch their non to a party. My experience with primaries is only the most dedicated vote in them. For example in Nevada you have to sit in rooms in schools and listen to every nut that wants to give a ten minute speech to change your vote.
- JohnFen 2y agoPrimaries are by and for the parties themselves. They get to set the rules for how they determine what candidates they put on their tickets. I have huge issues with the existence of political parties in the first place, but as long as they exist, if they want to restrict that decision-making to party members only, I don't see any real issue with that. It's not like we're talking about the actual election here.