Big 8.5 x 11 mail piece from the Open Primary group in mailboxes across the state today, just in time for early voting:
Big 8.5 x 11 mail piece from the Open Primary group in mailboxes across the state today, just in time for early voting:
When it passes, it will be the final nail in the coffin of political parties. All the other nails were pounded in by the Parties themselves.
It won’t change who is elected or how people vote, it’s not that dynamic. I think it will make incumbents more accountable to voters vs party leadership and bureaucrats. No more free passes on stupid shit.
Open primaries… the straight-jacket of modern politics.
Political parties in states that allow Independents full voting access are doing just fine. This is a more democratic system. Yes on H!
Exactly. You’d think this would actually be better for good candidates.
More importantly, it will be worse for bad candidates. You know who grudznick means…those fellows who are insaner than most.
Let all voters vote. A simple premise. Cut the party nonsense in favor of democracy. We’ll get better candidates who represent South Dakota, instead of their own interests.
Top-two open primaries will be a much fairer, more competitive system, and 153.000 independents will get to vote in a meaningful primary—the South Dakota Primary!
The independents have chosen NOT to be a part of either party. They should form their own primary if they feel left out. H is ridiculous and stupid.
Respectfully as possible – it’s ridiculous and stupid that you believe tax payers should fund your private party they weren’t allowed to participate in.
I rang up quite the electric bill this month, had a big private party so I cranked the A/C…so make sure you send me a check to pay for it, even though you Don’t own it and weren’t here – see how stupid that sounds? Pay your own bills or let everyone participate, not that hard to understand.
. We use our taxpayer dollars for all kinds of things that we get no personal benefit from.
By the way, are you certain that independents even want to be a part of this proposed process? Let’s quit using them for for a hidden agenda here.
Political Party Elites have forgotten the party should be following the people, not the people following the party bosses. They want our money, but not our votes.
This is going to pass – and our founding fathers will be proud that the America they dreamed of is one step closer to that dream.
The end of political parties would be a great thing. The way it is now is a continuous power struggle with no positive government actions
at least this would bump the precinct committee men and women off the primary ballot. Maybe those jobs could be eliminated entirely.
Pat, do you know how H would affect precinct committeemen and women? Would they stay on the primary ballot and be voted on by all voters regardless of party? Or would they be removed from the primary ballot and voted on some other way? I haven’t heard one way or the other—
If the legislature left the law alone – there would be a separate partisan ballot that would be closed like our current closed primary if there was contested races.
The legislature would also have the ability to alter the process or completely remove it, but simply passing H wouldn’t change that process currently.
Yes on H. Get rid of the fringes.
H will neuter party hacks (FKA party leadership) and make the parties irrelevant. A well-earned demise.
Nope.
Why bother with primaries at all?
RM at 7:37… So agree. Go straight to the general.
With no primary you would have winners elected with less than 50% of the vote. Best to have the top two from the primary compete against each other and let all voters decide who they want.
Anonymous at 12:40 p.m…. When no one gets 50 percent plus one vote in the general, there’s a runoff for the top two vote-getters a month later. Easy peasy.
Don’t fall for this Cliff. No on H.
Ap at 11 p.m…. I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!
Why would you let your enemy choose who they get to fight? Only a fool would do that.
Because political party bosses, and their useful idiots, think people of other parties are enemies instead of realizing they too are South Dakotans.
I figured one of you fools would speak up. Like lambs to the slaughter.
No on h. This is crazy. If people want to work with a party, great. If people want to be independent, great. Why let democrats choose the Republican candidate or via versa? This is the fast track to weak candidates.
Bingo
Who is most threatened by H? The far right extremists that have been gaining in numbers. They have caused enough damage in our state.
Garbage. The fringe takes over when the core is weak. It’s the same whether we’re talking about parties or society. Open primaries won’t protect anyone from the fringes. This will only dilute the convictions of us all.
AP, the fringe are the natural and deserved consequence of leadership that became grifters, who became entitled, and then whined like babies when called out.
The fringe consists of the intellectually vapid like Elk, conspiracy theorists like this afraid of a carbon pipeline arguing under false pretenses of landowner rights when their income comes because we have trains, get their fuel from pipelines and drive on roads (all available because of eminent domain), and those who figured out leadership is out for themselves.
Vote No to H!
This message was brought to you by Draft Toby Doeden for Governor 2026.
Gudzhick at 10:33 a.m….. The electorate is changing. Dems so far have missed out on the changes entirely, and the SDGOP is well on its way to figuring out what path to take. It’s happened before and the parties came out stronger for it.
Except when they didn’t. Which is entirely possible. Predictions are hard. Especially about the future.
What’s stopping 100,000 independent SD voters from switching to Republican? It takes 2 minutes. It’s free. It would allow them to vote in GOP primaries. These former independents could run for precinct committee man/ woman. They could run for county office (chair, vice chair, etc.). As registered Republicans, they could block “fringe” candidates’ nomination from major offices (senator, gov, us house, AG, SOS). And if these former independents dislike a nominee, there’s no rule forcing them to vote R in November. Every benefit H backers tout is readily available now. Independents are welcome to join the GOP and help choose the candidates we elect. Vigorous “in house” conversations and debates makes us stronger, as iron sharpens iron. But I don’t want thousands of dogmatized extreme left crazies voting in my primary. There’s a risk many will vote disingenuously, advancing less-popular Republicans to the general. This is no myth. We’ve seen “tactical voting” occur in open primary states. Asking someone to register GOP isn’t a hardship for mainstream common sense South Dakota voters. But the Scarlet R repels far left wackos as a crucifix repels Dracula. Long may it be so.
Some voters just do not want that stink on them with what has happened to the party and then be on the mailing list or other contact lists.
Maybe voters shouldnt be forced into declaring for a certain party if they want to exercise a fundamental right.
when so many republicans have happily thrown in their lot with trump’s full-on deconstruction of the election process, i find the republican arguments against this change to be overlaid with a thick layer of irony and delusion.
the gop will just find new ways to disenfranchise people. i can’t wait to see how they improve on the gerry-mandered pretzel they have already turned rapid city into.