Just in time for Election Day: ASU’s Morrison Institute releases a report showing that a majority of Arizonans want non-partisan and open primaries. Here’s the press release:
Arizonans go to the polls Tuesday to cast ballots in the primary election, but an overwhelming percentage of state voters believe the time has come for both open and nonpartisan primaries, according to a new poll.
A recent survey conducted on behalf of Morrison Institute for Public Policy by Knowledge Networks measured how voters felt about a number of issues, including Arizona’s primary system. Results showed that three-quarters of Arizona voters favor a primary election in which the two candidates — regardless of party affiliation — who receive the largest number of votes face off in the general election. This change is favored across party lines and among all age groups.
“This survey shows there is significant dissatisfaction with at least some parts of Arizona’s current primary election process,” said David Daugherty, director of research at Morrison Institute.
More than six in 10 Arizona voters prefer open primaries with all candidates listed on the ballot but without party designation. Independents were most likely to prefer such a primary (71%), with Democrats the least favorable to the change (54%).
Presently, Arizona holds semi-open/closed party primaries. Republican voters are restricted to the Republican ballot, and Democrats are limited to the Democratic ballot. Candidates are divided by political affiliation, with the candidates receiving the most votes from their respective party facing off in the November general election.
Independents (those not aligned with or identified as a member of a major political party) can vote in Arizona primaries, however, only on
a single ballot, such as either the Republican or Democrat contest.
Many independents find Arizona’s primary rules confusing and opt to miss the primary even though most of Arizona’s legislative districts are considered “safe districts,” meaning the primary often essentially determines the winner since the districts are either heavily Republican or heavily Democratic in voter registration.
According to the Arizona Indicators Panel survey, 86% of voters said Arizona should have an outright open primary, where anyone can vote for any candidate, regardless of political party. This change is favored by large majorities of all age groups and all political affiliations.
Findings in the survey are a statewide representative sample based on the responses of 614 Arizonans from July 16 through Aug. 6, as part of the Arizona Indicators Panel.
This article appears in Aug 19-25, 2010.
Stable democracies require informed electorates, and the participation of political parties in elections is supposed to achieve this in the most basic sense. The idea of partisan primary nominations is for higher-information voters to help lower-information voters make choices that serve the interests of the whole bunch. It’s a good system, its purpose is to protect the integrity of democracy in an environment of constantly increasing complexity.
But hey, we’re in Arizona.
I lived in a state that allowed Independants to vote in the primary elections and to vote for any candidate they chose. The result was that many would vote in a manner so that they could defeat the candidate they thought might be the strongest against their favorite. I am not sure that made sense but it is difficult to explain. If you totally do away with the party affiliation and just have the two candidates with the most votes run on ballot for the final election, it is likely that you will get two people of the same party running against each other. This sort of lets the opposition have no choice at all in some districts.