Open primaries, ranked choice don't favor anyone

Suppose you are Republican …

If we had an open primary, both Jim Woodward and Scott Herndon would be on the ballot Nov. 5. There are over 7,000 unaffiliated voters in our district, who were not allowed to vote in the Republican closed primary. Who knows how independents would vote? Herndon might just have won this election.

Historically, Democrats have had very little chance zero to win in our district. Are you kidding yourself that an open primary would hand an election to a Democrat?

Suppose you are Democrat … 

You want the Democrat to win in the general election. If they lose, you prefer one Republican over the other. But your Republican might lose if you vote for the Democrat. With ranked choice voting, you can vote for the Democrat for your first choice and your Republican for second choice. If your Democrat loses, your vote still counts for your Republican.

Now imagine you are an indpendent, a Constitutionalist, a Libertarian …

No matter your party, how would you like to have two Republicans on the general election ballot?

Open primaries and ranked choice voting are fair. They don't favor either party, they favor you. Every vote counts. Every winner gets support from more than half the voters.

NANCY GERTH

Sagle