Virginia does not have voter registration by political party. And we shouldn’t. There’s nothing conservative about registering your political opinion for the government to then keep on a list. My political opinions, while sometimes published on a blog, are my own and not for the government to keep track of.
HB 56 from Republican Delegate Tommy Wright seeks to establish party registration in the Commonwealth. It should be defeated.
Proponents believe the bill is needed because too many of one party crossover and vote in the other party’s open primary. While the data to support that claim is lacking, let’s concede the point for the sake of argument. The solution is not more government and another government list. The better solution is less government. Political parties have every right to choose a method of nomination that is facilitated by themselves. We call it party process and there is more than one method that works well.
Creating another government list for the government to police is increasing the size and scope of government. Conservatives usually work to reduce the government’s size and scope. The underlying premise is especially worrisome from a conservative perspective. Here, a political party claims to have a problem with participation and they can’t fix it themselves, they need the government to take care of everything. There’s nothing conservative in that way of thinking.
Conservatives and liberals should agree on freedom of thought and freedom of association. Voters should have the right to participate in whichever party they choose, when they choose. The parties can sort through who qualifies and who doesn’t, that responsibility shouldn’t fall to the government. With party registration, a voter who may have grown disenchanted with his party, must seek, let’s call it approval, from the government to change parties. The party has no say in the matter. Without party registration, voters are free to participate in either, but not both, primaries. That is consistent with conservative ideas of liberty. But if that has created too many crossover voters who cast disingenuous votes, then let the parties restrict participation, not the government. Party process allows for only party members to participate in a party’s nominating contest.
Party registration will not help political campaigns identify voters. The bill says that everyone already registered will be listed as Independent unless they choose to contact the registrar’s office and have it changed. Participation in updating your party id is voluntary. I will not participate, so I would be listed as an Independent, which is an inaccurate description of my voting behavior.
Campaigns already have voter participation data, which shows which primaries and which General Elections voters cast ballots. Party registration would only throw in a false flag. Take me for example. My voter history shows high propensity in Republican primaries and no participation in a Democrat primary. The one-sidedness of party choice and high propensity illustrate that I am considered a Hard R in campaign offices. But if party registration becomes law, then I will not update my registration per party id, which would tag me on the government’s list as Independent. So if you’re sitting in a campaign office chopping up lists for messaging, it would be best to ignore the government’s list and follow the data.
As for new voters, those who choose to play the game will be identified upfront, which appears helpful to campaigns. But registration drives are best done by political parties or political advocacy groups closely associated with one party. When a political party or political group registers someone new, that data is captured in-house as well on the official registration form.
A potential harm to voters is that registration lists could be used against people by nefarious actors. Discrimination could be seen in hiring practices and other workplace abuses. Right now, voting records are publicly available, but not all that easy for just anyone to have. Making it easier for anyone to search and find personal information should give us pause.
Party registration brings us a little too close to violating the principle of sanctuary found in our voting booths. Under no circumstances should an American every be forced to publicly state their political (or any) opinion. We vote in private and that is important. Party registration offers a clear indicator of who a person voted for in a General Election. While it is not entirely conclusive, and yields no information on candidate preference in a primary, in today’s hyper-partisan environment it tells enough about who someone voted for in November. Again, voting participation data is available and conclusions can be reached from it, but right now that kind of research is not so easily digestible in the public square. But party registration would make party id more readily available for all. Plenty of people don’t advertise their political beliefs, a form of freedom of speech, which deserves to be protected.
If crossover voters are a detriment to political parties, then let the parties solve the problem with party process. There’s nothing conservative about having the government handle a party’s problem. HB 56 should be defeated.
