Dear fellow State Committee member:
This coming Saturday, we will have the opportunity to enhance the integrity of the process by which we select our Republican candidates.
At present, when someone wants to run in a Republican primary, they must complete, sign and file a Declaration of Candidacy, stating, in part, that they are “a registered member of the Republican party.” The specific required language is set forth in our RSA’s.
But come Primary Election Day, voters who have previously registered as “Undeclared,” i.e. not registered as members of the Republican Party, can choose to become Republicans-for-the-moment, and obtain and vote to choose who will carry the Republican banner into the General Election, metamorphing back into Undeclared status on their way out of the poll.
Why do we allow voters who have failed or refused to register as members of our Party to choose our nominees?
Frankly, this makes no sense, and actually enables non-Republicans to select as our nominee a candidate that may notionally be the weakest candidate, thereby enhancing the chance of victory of a D candidate in the General Election.
The solution is simple and is recognized in NH laws. All we have to do is adopt a rule limiting voters in our primaries to registered Republicans.
Some might claim such a rule should be in our Platform, which is supposed to be a statement of our core principles. Others claim that such a change would undercut our claim of being a “big tent” party. Still others claim we should establish a committee to “study” the issue- sort of like voting to send a proposed bill in the General Court to “interim study”- the cemetery of unpopular bills. All of these arguments beg the question and in reality seek to perpetuate a ridiculous situation.
But we have tolerated this intolerable situation for much too long, and it is time for a change.
Thus, I urge you to vote to approve the following proposed addition to our By-Laws that might bring some sanity into our primaries:
“No person who is not registered on the applicable checklist as a member of the Republican Party immediately prior to the date any Republican Party Primary election is to be held shall be given a ballot of the Republican Party for such party primary election or permitted to vote in that Republican Party primary.”
Please feel free to contact me with any questions about this proposal.
Norm Silber
Member, NHGOP State Committee
Past Member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives
Belknap County District 2- Gilford & Meredith
243 Mountain Drive
Gilford, New Hampshire 03249-6764
Tel 603-293-0565
Email: njs@silbersnh.com
This was sent to the NHGOP State Committee on behalf of bylaw amendment sponsor Norm Silber and does not imply an endorsement of the bylaw change by the NHGOP. The NHGOP Executive Board and Bylaw Committee voted to not recommend this change.