Why some Republican-led states are limiting who can vote in party primaries
ADRIAN FLORIDO, HOST:
Well, as French elections wrap up, the U.S. presidential election looms. For Democrats, Biden's insistence on staying in the race continues to be a concern. Top House Democrats are meeting today to discuss President Biden's candidacy and a way forward for this election. Beyond this election, though, Republican lawmakers are thinking about future ones. In some states, they're working to restrict who can vote in party primaries. They say it's an effort to maintain ideological purity among party nominees. But opponents say this will likely lead to more extreme candidates. NPR's Ashley Lopez reports.
ASHLEY LOPEZ, BYLINE: Jennifer Green has been a registered Republican in Wyoming for many years, even though she is not a conservative. But she says living in a GOP-dominated state with closed primaries kind of forces her hand.
JENNIFER GREEN: To have a voice in politics, you kind of need to be a Republican.
LOPEZ: Green says she's not sure how much influence she actually has, but some of the primaries have been pretty important. For example, former Congresswoman Liz Cheney's reelection bid in 2022.
GREEN: I despise Liz Cheney - her politics. And we disagree on just about everything. But in the primaries, I voted for her because she was right on the January 6 hearings, and she will go down on the right side of history.
LOPEZ: Many voters like Green weighed in on that primary, some even registering as Republicans on election day, says GOP secretary of state, Chuck Gray.
CHUCK GRAY: It dilutes our primary system. It creates incentives for people who don't share a party's values to nonetheless prevent voters of that party from electing a candidate that represents the party's platform.
LOPEZ: So last year, lawmakers in Wyoming passed a bill prohibiting voters from changing their party affiliation up to three months before an election. Republicans in other states, including Colorado, Tennessee and Texas, also have been pushing new limits on party primaries. In many cases, this means excluding independent and unaffiliated voters, which is actually out of step with most states.
NICK TROIANO: Overall, an overarching trend over the last decade is a story of states opening rather than closing their primaries.
LOPEZ: Nick Troiano is with Unite America, which invests in nonpartisan electoral reforms. He says most states are making room for independent and unaffiliated voters in primaries because they're a growing part of the electorate, and he's critical of states moving in the opposite direction.
TROIANO: You know, moving to a more closed system is weaponizing the election process to impose purity tests on partisanship and ideology.
LOPEZ: Troiano says a good example of this is Louisiana. For half a decade now, the state has had nonpartisan primaries - often called a jungle primary - where all the candidates, regardless of party, appear on the same ballot. The state's model has been lauded by reformers, but the state's new governor, Republican Jeff Landry, isn't a fan.
JEFF LANDRY: Our jungle primary system is the only one of its kind in this country. It is a relic of the past, which I believe has left us dead last.
LOPEZ: He argues that closed primaries unify the party more. Robert Hogan, a political science professor at Louisiana State University, says this is about Republicans in the state wanting to weed out candidates who aren't conservative or partisan enough.
ROBERT HOGAN: The poster child for this issue is Bill Cassidy. If you recall, he's a senator who did not vote to decertify the votes in the electoral college, and he also voted in favor of one of the articles of impeachment for Trump.
LOPEZ: So this year, Louisiana Republicans voted to replace the state's nonpartisan system with a closed primary for several offices starting in 2026. Democratic state Senator Jay Luneau says it's concerning.
JAY LUNEAU: It's going to push out, unfortunately, I believe, a lot of those people who are in the middle, which I think is desperately what we need in this state and this country - is to get back to the middle.
LOPEZ: And Nick Troiano with Unite America says closing primaries could have long-term political costs for Republicans. But in the short term, he says, this could give them what they want, which is candidates who won't do things like vote to impeach Donald Trump. Ashley Lopez, NPR News.
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