Few people would characterize the conservative South as enlightened when it comes to electoral politics. But the truth is that in some respects it is more advanced than many Democratic strongholds. While states like Oregon and New York continue to employ closed party primary elections, even as the electorate becomes more independent and more demanding of real choices at the polls, states from Alabama to Missouri have dispensed with party registration and employed open primaries for years.
These states may lean Republican at the ballot box, as key Northern states lean Democratic, but they have carved out the space for voters to define themselves and their voting choices. These systems are now under attack all across the South and, if successfully repealed, could spell a descent into authoritarian rule that we’ve barely begun to grasp.
MAGA Republicans across the country have been working to restructure the rules of state elections to give themselves maximum control of their party’s agenda and electoral fortunes. That’s widely understood. What has been quietly building with scant attention is how the rules of primary elections are quickly becoming a centerpiece of that effort.
