In Wednesday's Farmington Daily Times, New Mexico Secretary of State Mary Herrera reports that her office is lacking the funds to pay for next year's major Party Primaries. She estimates the cost at about $4 million.
This raises an interesting question. Why is the state paying for an election that includes only select voters? According to statistics published at the Secretary of State's website www.sos.state.nm.us, there are 201,000 voters who choose to register in a minor party, or no party at all. That means that nearly 20% of all registered voters are prohibited from voting in primary elections.
So we put out the question- does the funding and the process of party primaries need to be reformed?
Parties should raise their own money for their exclusive contests
ReplyDeleteThe SoS office stated opinion was the Greens primary cost the state over $850 per vote cast in "96 while the Ds and Rs each cost under $10 per vote. The Greens primary cost the state more than the Ds and Rs put together in other words. The Ds have their caucus why not expand the process?
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