First and foremost… there is A LOT of misinformation concerning this “closed primary” issue. The Resolution that passed by the membership at the NHGOP Annual Meeting on January 28, 2023 (Resolution #2, found on this page: https://nh.gop/2023-annual-meeting/) has nothing to do with the 90-day deadline to change your party affiliation before voting in the 2024 Presidential Primary Election (the deadline for that was October 6, 2023.)
https://www.doj.nh.gov/news/2023/20230918-deadline-party-affiliation-primary.htm
This Resolution requires independent voters who want to vote in the Republican primary to switch over 30 days before the primary date. The presidential primary date has NOT been chosen yet. Many states have closed or partially closed primaries for varying reasons (https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/state-primary-election-types.)
There are several reasons for closing our primaries, but in NH, here are some of the reasons why the majority of Republicans voted for the Resolution in January:
- The essential purpose of a party primary is to select the candidates who will run in the General Election under the party’s banner. Thus, candidates running in a partisan (i.e., political) General Election under a party banner (either R or D) should only be those actually selected in a primary by voters who are aligned with that party’s principles and who have registered as voters in that party.
- Integrity: Prevents outsiders (undeclared voters that are really Democrats) from attempting to influence the Republican primary selection process.
- Ideological Purity: This is a way to help ensure that the candidate selected is the closest one that adheres to the party’s ideological principles (those NH principles listed here: https://nh.gop/platform/.) Closing the primary helps prevent voters with significantly different views from hijacking a party’s nomination process.
- Informed Voters: People who are going to take the time and switch to the party to be able to vote in the Republican primary (they can switch back on their way out from the polls at which they just voted in the party primary) are typically more informed about what the party believes in, stands for, the party’s candidates, and the party’s primary issues, so closed primaries may lead to more informed voting decisions.
- Safeguarding Votes: Closing the primaries can reduce the likelihood of “party ransacking” that has taken place in NH for years. It is where voters from opposing parties (who hide as undeclared voters) participate in the Republican primary to influence the nomination of a weaker candidate. Recent news stories below verifying this:
https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2023-10-04/tug-of-war-over-independent-voters-heats-up-in-nh-primary
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/03/pro-christie-pac-new-hampshire-00119734
Primaries in NH have not always been “open.” It has been reported, but unconfirmed, that former Secretary of State William Gardner claimed to have received a resolution (from which party is unclear) in which the primaries were declared open to undeclared voters.
It should be noted that if any such rule opening the primaries had been adopted through a by-law amendment, where is it in the NHGOP By-laws? The simple answer is NOWHERE! So, if such an action did, in fact, actually take place, it must have been by simple Resolution. The distinction is essential because a resolution only requires a majority vote to pass, while a by-law amendment requires a supermajority to pass.
See the responses to Chairman Ager’s statements in bold below:
Chairman Ager:
“After investigating applicable state law in consultation with the Secretary of State’s office, it was determined that the Resolution violated state law and could not be adopted. Specifically, the critical “30 day prior” provision of the Resolution violates RSA 654:7 a&b (same-day registration), and RSA 654:32/34 (change of registration).”
The role of Chairman Ager was to deliver the adopted Resolution to the NH Secretary of State (SOS), David Scanlan. His role was not to “investigate” anything. SOS Scanlon NEVER received the Resolution calling for the primaries to be closed from the Republican State Party. There has been ZERO communication to the voting members about this Resolution from Chairman Ager until yesterday, October 9, 2023, after many Republican committee voting members requested answers. In writing from SOS Scanlan, he confirms this:
“By statute the party chair is to notify the Secretary of State in writing if there is a change regarding which voters can participate in a party primary. I have not received any written communication in that regard.”
And, below, confirmed in state statute:
659:14 Special Provisions for State and Presidential Primary Elections.
(https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/LXIII/659/659-14.htm)
- The secretary of state shall include on the voter instruction cards required by RSA 658:28 whether a party rule has been adopted which permits a person who is registered as an undeclared voter to vote in the party’s primary. The party chairman shall notify the secretary of state in writing prior to the filing period for state offices whether the party has adopted such a rule. This rule shall not be changed or rescinded by a party until the results of the primary have been announced, and any change or rescission shall be mailed to the secretary of state by the party chairman.
Chairman Ager:
“Presidential Primary campaigns have also been informed that there will be no change to our current First In The Nation Primary selection process and have been campaigning accordingly.”
Why would presidential primary campaigns be notified but not the NH Republican Party? When were those campaigns informed? Chairman Ager doesn’t have the authority to unilaterally ignore a resolution adopted by the membership body over eight months ago. Furthermore, he doesn’t control the NH presidential primary.
Chairman Ager:
“My suggestion to the sponsors is to bring forth a By-Law Amendment that complies with State Law for consideration and critical analysis of the impact by the entire Committee.”
Chairman Ager still has a couple of hours to submit the Resolution to SOS Scanlon. If there is a legal issue with the Resolution, the burden of proof is on the state to provide. Time is running out to follow through on what you were elected to do.
So, let’s get this straight: for over eight months since the adoption of the Resolution by a majority of the members of the NHGOP state committee, Ager sat back and did nothing to implement the Resolution or to try to obtain a ruling on its efficacy from the Courts which could rule on whether it could take effect or whether it conflicted with existing state laws.
But putting aside the technical arguments over whether the Resolution was proper or not- assume for argument’s sake that it was not. Secretary of State Scanlan has stated in writing that he cannot produce any prior written notice from the party giving the required notice of adoption of a party rule to “open” its primaries to Undeclared voters. Since RSA 659:14 provides the only mechanism for opening the primaries (by the giving of written notice from the chair of the party to the SOS of the adoption of an opening rule- silent on whether it must be by Resolution or by by-law amendment), in the absence of any writing from the NHGOP advising the SOS of the adoption of an “open” primary rule, logic dictates that the primary must be “closed”- namely voters registered as Undeclared cannot lawfully vote in a GOP primary.
The fact that the primaries have been conducted improperly on an “open” basis for many years does not change the fact that the law is the law and should be applied as written.
Signed,
Many concerned state party members.
