<\/p>\n
Gabriella Boschma of Houston votes on Election Day at West Gray Multi-Service Center on Tuesday, March 5, 2024 in Houston, TX.<\/p>\n
Sharon Steinmann<\/p>\n
Last month at the Texas GOP convention in Houston,\u00a0Gov. Greg Abbott pledged to ensure that \u201conly Republicans vote in Republican primaries<\/a>.\u201d He framed the proposal as an election-integrity measure.<\/p>\n I understand why that line draws applause in a political party\u2019s convention hall. I understand that party identity matters to many Texans. Principles matter. Private associations matter.<\/p>\n But Texas primary elections are not private meetings. They are taxpayer-funded public elections, run under long-established rules set by the Texas Legislature.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n That is why Veterans for All Voters, the nonprofit I founded, filed an amicus brief in federal court: In Hunt v. Texas<\/a>, we support the position taken by Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson. As a nonpartisan veterans group, we oppose closed primaries in blue states, red states and anywhere else where party insiders try to wall off public elections from the public.<\/p>\n Nelson, a Republican appointed by Abbott, will likely leave office this month. She rightly defended state law and opposed the GOP\u2019s lawsuit to close the primaries. In an age when too many officials take cues from party elites before they read the law, she did the job that every Texan needed her to do.<\/p>\n Now Texans should watch closely. The next secretary of state should be chosen for fidelity to the law, steadiness under pressure and a willingness to serve every Texan. A successor chosen to fold the state\u2019s hand in court would send a very different message. The chief elections officer of Texas serves all voters. You don\u2019t want them to be an errand-runner for party bosses.<\/p>\n In Texas, voters do not register by party. They show up, choose one primary, and participate in that party\u2019s contests for that election. They cannot vote in both primaries.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Closing primaries would replace that simple system with additional registration and paperwork burdens on all voters and costly upgrades to the state’s voter registration systems. Conservatives should be the first to reject that government overreach and unnecessary expense.<\/p>\n Texas is home to more than 1.5 million veterans<\/a>. Many of my brothers and sisters in arms are conservative on some issues, libertarian on others, moderate on still others, and by temperament, independent. More than half of post-9\/11 veterans\u00a0do not identify<\/a> with either major party. We were not asked for party registration when we swore an oath to the Constitution. Sometimes veterans issues play out in Democratic primaries. Sometimes we see them on the Republican side. But veterans shouldn\u2019t have to sign up with one team just to cast a vote that matters most to us.<\/p>\n The reality is that in Texas, many independent-minded veterans vote in Republican primaries because, in their communities, the Republican primary is only the election where their voices matter. They know the Republican is going to win the general election, so the primary is the election of consequence.\u00a0<\/p>\n The argument for closing primaries usually rests on an unproven fear that Democrats are crossing over to manipulate Republican elections. Rumors devoid of proof should not become a reason to treat independent voters and neighbors like suspects.<\/p>\n The real winners from closing primaries would be the special interests that want to control our elections. A smaller electorate is cheaper to buy, easier to bully, and easier to bend. Close the primary, and the loudest factions gain more leverage over everyone who remains.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n That\u2019s not how our republic is supposed to work.<\/p>\n Instead, look at Abbott\u2019s plan to turn Harris County dark red. He says Republicans will go block by block and door to door. That is exactly how durable majorities are built. You win voters by persuading them, listening to them and respecting them.<\/p>\n Real unity cannot be ordered from a party convention stage. It is built when people are invited in and treated with respect. A confident party competes for voters. A weak machine tries to choose those voters in advance.<\/p>\n George Washington warned us about party machines for a reason. Parties can serve useful purposes, but they can also become engines for ambitious men to subvert the power of the people. That warning feels less like history every year.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Ordinary Texans should choose their leaders, not party insiders choosing their voters. That is the Texas way. That is the conservative way. And that is the Republic veterans swore to defend.<\/p>\n Eric H. Bronner is a Navy veteran, Naval Academy graduate, lifelong independent voter, and founder of Veterans for All Voters, a national nonpartisan nonprofit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gabriella Boschma of Houston votes on Election Day at West Gray Multi-Service Center on Tuesday, March 5, 2024…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362461,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-362460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}