DENVER, CO -- Stateline.org reported today that efforts are underway by both of the older entrenched parties to revamp their current primary process in order to avoid the prolonged primary battles leading up to their conventions.
“The formal primary process teeters on the brink of chaos,” said Don Means, director of the Open Caucus Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that advocates a change in the nominating process.
In fact, Stateline cites the move by a record 28 states in moving their primary election to February in order to provide a voice for their voters in determining the parties' general election candidates. By the end of February, voters in 39 states had expressed their presidential preferences, compared to just 19 in 2004.
While all sides agreed that this year’s historic run for the White House energized voters, as evidenced by record voter registration and primary turnout, many are concerned that this cycle’s very early start was unfair to candidates and state officials who actually administer the primary contests — and in the end, to voters.
Presidential candidates were forced to start campaigning at Thanksgiving, giving what critics say was an unfair advantage to highly funded candidates with name recognition. States had to scramble to get ballots ready and train poll workers. And many voters didn’t really get a chance to get to know the various contenders, because by March, the field of candidates was essentially narrowed to U.S. Sen. John McCain for the GOP and Obama and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton for the Democrats.
The Libertarian Party has long advocated that political organizations self-fund their in-party candidate selection process at conventions without placing the financial burden on the general public and non-party members through higher taxation. The LP nominates candidates at conventions -- local, state and national -- at no additional expense to taxpayers.
