Posted on 03/21/2016 7:21:59 PM PDT by BlackFemaleArmyColonel
Montana Republicans are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to step in as early as this week and force the state to “close” its upcoming primary so only GOP voters can participate -- in a case that could pose complications for Donald Trump.
The Republican front-runner so far has done better in "open" primaries, where members of both parties can vote, than in "closed" primaries limited to Republican voters only.
Montana, set to vote June 7, has had an “open primary” since 1912.
But state GOP officials want to change all that, in a bid to keep out Democrats and other “cross-over” voters who might sway the outcome. They argue keeping the primaries open infringes on their constitutional right of association.
“This is a First Amendment right,” state Republican Party lawyer Matthew Monforton told FoxNews.com.
He said the looming primary is particularly important because it would allow people to flood the system in an incredibly close Republican race. If the system is left unchecked, Monforton believes outside groups could unfairly influence the state’s winner-take-all primaries, where Montana’s 27 presidential delegates are up for grabs.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
The 2014 Republican primary in Mississippi is not the fault of the Montana Republican party.
The Republican Party of Montana has been fighting for a long time for what most of us here wanted. Closed primaries.
You “run the numbers” eh?
That settles it then don’t it?
Chortle!
Back on point, why on earth should Republicans allow crossover Democrats to chose their candidates? It’s just nuts. There should be ZERO open primaries.
You are exactly right. ALL GOP primaries should be closed to Republicans. Period.
Joke post?
Trump has consistently done worse in closed primaries and caucuses then in open primaries where Democrats can vote. That is FACT. Meanwhile, Ted Cruz has outperformed His poll numbers by an average of over 10% in all the primaries/caucuses held so far and Cruz has performed better in caucuses and closed primaries than in open primaries.
As for Montana, Trump will get clobbered, just like he will lose in Utah and Idaho.
Every single state should have closed primaries.
Why would you imagine the blame for Mississippi goes to any one but the GOPee? The GOPee who decided Montana should be an open state. The same GOPee the open primary states in the South have been after to close their primaries. The GOPee answer has answer has always been that they want to appeal to a bigger tent (meaning: they want more liberals to moderate conservative states and consequently allow their RINOs to win). The same overlords who tell the GOPee in Montana to stay open are the ones who preside over the GOPee in other open primary states.
Just because Montana has fewer people doesn’t mean your state is invisible. They still exert control over your state. If you remember Mississippi, you will understand the extent to which they will go to keep their control. That is why the Montana battle against the open primary has been so hard.
I’m sorry, I see that you are from NY. NY has plenty of people and we know the GOPee is in full control of it. I should have said the GOPee exerts control over Montana as well as your state.
Actually, no state should hold any primary election.
A political party has the right to hold primary elections in order to determine who their candidates should be, but it this should be a private election, paid for by the party, and should not draw on state resources.
If the state government pays for the election, the state sets the rules. If the political party pays for the election, the party sets the rules.
Careful there, he gets really nasty sometimes.. well, pretty much all of the time :\
sorry, Montana, SCOTUS is booked for the next month or so. Are you Montana GOPe people that skeered so many of your citizens are Trump supporters that you have to go around your citizens’ voices to try to rig an election? silly rabbits
My opinion on this has been the same for years. The state delegates should be chosen in a closed system either caucus or primary. The nomination process is not intended to be an open election to all. That doesn’t take place until November. The nominating process should be conducted by those who are members of the party. Dems shouldn’t be allowed to help determine who the Republicans nominate as Republicans shouldn’t be involved in choosing the Dems. As for independents, well, if a person isn’t committed to one party or another then they shouldn’t have a say in the nomination of the leader of that party. If more became involved maybe we could take back the Republican party from the wimpy McCain types.
Changing the rules three months before the election, based on actual voter opinions, does not impress me as honest. It’s about control for the establishment, and if they don’t like it they should have chanced the rules last year or before (perhaps three generations ago).
What?
Why would you imagine that I'm not blaming what happened in MS on the GOPe??
Joke? The joke is on you. You are just spouting talking points. Meanwhile, I did the actual research. In open primaries thus far Trump has won 68% of the delegates compared to Cruz and Kasich. When you exclude the home states for Cruz and Kasich, Trump has won 72% of the delegates as compared to those 2 in CLOSED prmaries. 72%. Let me repeat that - 72%. The dems and indys just register as Trumpublicans if they need to. :-) Read and weep. See ya!
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