WASHINGTON COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark. — The Republican Party of Arkansas voted to close upcoming Republican primaries in Arkansas at its bi-annual convention on Saturday, June 8.
As primary elections focus on party nominations, the Republican party is looking to limit its primaries to only registered Republican voters.
Brian Lester, the chairman of the Washington County Republican Committee Brian Lester said he does not expect the new rules to take effect.
"In any organized society, you have rules, a procedure which you have to follow in order to get things done," he said. "And one of the things that the Republican Party of Arkansas (RPA) requires and Robert's Rules of Order — which is our default rules when we don't have a rule, specifically to the contrary through the party — is that you have to have proper notice."
Lester does not believe those rules were followed in Saturday's vote.
"I will tell you that, in my opinion, the primaries have not closed in Arkansas because those rules are invalid," he said.
Although Lester says he feels indifferent on the issue of closure, he sees the pros and cons. For example, he believes closing the primary would cut down on crossover votes.
"Especially in certain areas, you'll get a lot of Democrat voters that will come over and vote in a Republican primary to try to sway the vote to what they see as a weaker type of candidate," Lester said. "A lot of people will vote in the other party's primary to try to get the weaker candidate elected."
As for possible negative impacts on the party, Lester said this rule may deprive someone of their right to vote.
"I would think you disenfranchise voters," he said. "I think you have thousands and thousands of voters who feel like ... 'Republicans don't care about my voice, and so I'm just not going to show up and vote,' and I think that's a bad idea."
The Secretary of State's Office said in order for the Republican Party to close its primaries, a measure would have to be passed into law by the state legislature providing the framework for this.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party also held its convention over the weekend, and closing the primary wasn't considered.
5NEWS has reached out to the Republican Party of Arkansas Chairman Joseph Wood and members of his staff in search of answers, but we haven't heard back yet.
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