In past legislative sessions, proposals for open primaries in South Dakota have been debated and defeated. A large portion of the voting population in the state then does not have a say in what candidate each party runs in the general election.
Wouldn’t it be easy to allow everyone to vote in the primary by having them register either Democrat, Republican or independent and then let Democrats vote in the Democrat primary and Republicans in the Republican primary, and then allow independents to vote in the primary of their choosing? If an independent who was registered preferred a particular candidate running on the Republican side, he could show up, show his ID, indicate which party’s primary he wanted to cast a ballot in, receive his ballot, vote and be gone?
Everyone would have a say. It would be inclusive, and it would give important information to both the donkeys and the elephants.
I know the parties are against this because it takes power away from them. But wouldn’t it place the power with the people where it belongs? I see no downside. Every registered voter gets a vote in the primary, and both parties can garner valuable information on where the pulse of the independent party is.
Our country and state were founded on truths that are self-evident. This seems to be one of them. Political parties were never intended to have the power they do. Voters were meant to have more of a voice than many of them do currently.
It seems to be a simple fix. Why not just get ’er done?
Randy E. Amundson
Sioux Falls
Or just get rid of political parties all together and truly let the people rule.