Closed political primaries like Maryland’s disenfranchise voters and should be “reevaluated,” Gov. Wes Moore (D) said in a recent television interview.
“I think that the closed primary process has run its course,” Moore said during an appearance last week on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.”
Moore’s comments came as a surprise to Boyd Rutherford, the Republican former lieutenant governor who is representing a group of unaffiliated Maryland voters who are suing to open the state’s primaries — in a lawsuit that names Moore as the lead defendant.
“Gov. Moore said the right thing. Now Maryland has an opportunity to do the right thing,” Rutherford said.
But a spokesperson was quick to qualify the governor’s remarks, insisting that they were mere musings when he “was asked theoretically about closed vs. open primaries,” and not a statement of intent to blow up the state’s party-controlled primary elections.
“He shared his personal observation that many voters no longer choose to affiliate with a political party and that voter participation could benefit from a broader conversation about how primaries are structured,” spokesperson Rhyan Lake said in an email.
“He was not opining on Maryland’s closed primary system. The Governor supports the state’s current closed primary system and believes in working within it to expand participation,” she said.
Moore’s comments came at the end of a 12-minute interview with the comedian. Maher asked Moore if Democrats — and later Republicans — have problems with a primary system that “only encourages the far, extreme wing of the party” to vote.
Maher then said Moore should press the issue with the Democratic Party “because you wear the magic armor.”
“It’s just the truth that a Black candidate can say things and has permission to be more centrist in the Democratic Party than a white candidate. Would you agree with that?” Maher asked.
Moore, in an answer that lasted about a minute, ignored Maher’s magic armor comment and instead noted growing voter discontent with the major political parties and systematic gerrymandering that eliminates competitive districts.
“You have a system where more and more people are disenfranchised, more and more people are taken out of the process,” Moore said. “And so I think the whole idea of a closed primary system is one that has to be reevaluated, because if you believe in democracy, then let people’s voices be heard.”
Open primary advocates welcome Moore’s comments
Those comments found a receptive audience in Rutherford, now an attorney with Davis, Agnor, Rapaport & Skalny in Columbia.
“Nearly 1 million Marylanders are shut out from voting despite the express language of the Maryland Constitution and the Declaration of Rights,” Rutherford said. “That is not a partisan issue. It is an issue of voting rights.”
The lawsuit — Bryson, et al v. Moore, et al, — filed by five unaffiliated voters does not ask the court to strike down the state’s open primary system. Instead, it seeks a court order preventing the state from funding elections that exclude unaffiliated voters.
“At its heart, this case is about voting rights,” Rutherford said. “Marylanders who register as unaffiliated do not surrender their voice in publicly funded elections.
“We welcome the governor’s recent comments, and we believe there is now a meaningful opportunity to resolve this case in a way that expands participation, respects the Maryland Constitution, and strengthens confidence in Maryland’s elections,” he said.
An Anne Arundel County Circuit Court judge tossed the case out in November, but Rutherford’s clients appealed to the Appellate Court of Maryland. Briefs are due in May to that court, which has not set a hearing date.
Maryland Election Administrator Jared DeMarinis declined to comment on Moore’s statement, citing ongoing litigation.
Independent voters growing in Maryland
In Maryland, more than 2.2 million voters were registered as Democrats in March, compared to just over 1 million for Republicans and 998,153 voters who are not affiliated with any party, according to the latest voter registration statistics from the state. But of the 22,000 new registrations in March, just under 11,000 were Democrats; 7,847 were unaffiliated, while 3,406 registered as Republicans.
Moore, speaking to Maher, called the growth of registered independent voters “the fastest growing political party in this country right now.”
“Here’s the problem. Independents cannot vote until November,” Moore said. “Their voice cannot be heard. And when you’re looking at the massive gerrymandering that’s taking place, for example, in the Congress, or over 92% of these congressional districts, or even 92% are not competitive by November, it doesn’t matter.”
Moore, ironically, pushed unsuccessfully this year for mid-cycle redistricting in Maryland that would have redrawn the state’s congressional districts to make the state’s only Republican-held congressional seat vulnerable to a Democratic challenger.
‘Increasing their franchise’
The General Assembly has considered legislation in recent years, without success, to make it easier for unaffiliated voters to cast primary ballots.
Sen. Cheryl C. Kagan (D-Montgomery) saw Moore’s comments as supportive of legislation she sponsored this year that would have let unaffiliated voters vote in primary elections. She noted that 42 of the state’s 47 state Senate races were decided in the primary, leaving unaffiliated voters “without a voice.”
“We can do better,” she said. “We can include more people.”
Kagan’s bill — Senate Bill 132 — would not have fully opened the primary process, a fact she readily acknowledges.
“I’m not for open primaries, but I am for making it easier for unaffiliated voters to affiliate and have the full party ballot in the primary,” Kagan said.
She proposed letting unaffiliated voters to re-register with one of the major parties to vote in a primary. The bill was amended in committee to let unaffiliated voters change their registration as late as primary election day. The language was similar to changes made to the House version of the bill
The House passed its version of the legislation. But both bills died in the Senate Education, Energy and Environment Committee, of which Kagan is vice chair.
Kagan is hopeful that the bill passes next year. Even so, she said she understands many unaffiliated voters will not use the option.
“Frankly most people won’t,” she said.
“You make the choice,” Kagan said. “You can either switch and switch back, or you’re now affiliated, and if you never want to vote in the primary again, that’s your choice. You can just vote in November. It’s just, it’s simple. It’s just expanding their options. It’s increasing their franchise.”