Texas GOP Hopes to Close Primary with a Ballot Proposition in March

Carol Yepes

Texas Republicans have increased their talk about closing the primary in March after Presidential candidate Nikki Haley openly talked about relying on states with open primaries, like Texas, to get ahead in the race for the Republican nominee. GOP activists wish to limit the state's primary to Republicans creating a non-binding ballot proposition on the March 5 ballot in order to get an idea of how many people support this idea. 

Texas is one of 16 states that have an open primary, meaning that Texas voters do not have to declare their party affiliation when they register to vote. They can choose whether they want to vote in the Democrat or Republican primary, no matter their own personal beliefs. If there ends up being a runoff election, they need to stay with the party they voted in the primary with. 

There are 8 states that have completely closed primaries, these are states in which you have to determine which party you are when you are registering to vote and voters stay with that party when voting in the primary. In several states, if you define yourself as undecided, you have the choice of which primary you vote for. 

Nikki Haley benefited from states with this option, such as New Hampshire where she was second place to former President Trump in the primary. 44% of the electorate were independent or undecided and they favored candidate Nikki Haley over former President Trump with significant margins. Democrats made up 6% of the votes in this and they also preferred Nikki Haley over Donald Trump. 

The proposition in Texas to close the primary will ask Texas voters if the “Republican Party of Texas should restrict voting in the Republican primary to only registered Republicans,” and they must select yes or no. If the voters vote to close the primary, Texas will have to create a system for party registration.

Those in support of the proposition have focused their message on the possibility of Democrats affecting the election. The election does not only focus on Presidential but the U.S. Senate, Congress, and the Texas Legislature as well. 

The fear of Democrats affecting the election likely comes from the race between U.S. Rep. Jake Ellzey of Waxahachie and the election candidate opponent, Susan Wright, who was Trump-endorsed. This was a special election runoff for an open congressional seat in Northern Texas and GOP-backed analysis determined that 14% of voters in the runoff were possibly Democrats. 

Information On Open Primaries

There are reasons that it is argued that open primaries are beneficial for the public. The first is that it encourages more voters to vote and does not exclude independent voters or those not affiliated with a political party. As of January 2024, 45% of Americans were reported to be independent voters and open primaries allow voters to never have to declare themselves to a specific party. 

Closed primaries often make candidates feel as if they have to appeal to the more extreme ends of their party in order to stand out. Since independents are left out of primaries, candidates cater their messaging to the extremities of a party to ensure that they win over the party they are running with. 

On a financial note, holding one primary saves money since there is only a cost for one election day. They also believe that primaries will sometimes decide the outcome of races in some locations and that is why open primaries are very important. 

Information On Closed Primaries

Closed primaries are for voters who are formally affiliated with a political party in advance and are allowed to vote in the primary for their political party. 

Those who support closed primaries believe that the voters should be allowed to only vote for their own party because it prevents possible sabotage of the election. They do not believe that closed primaries create extreme candidates and reduce costs. Those who do not support closed primaries argue that instances of sabotage are rare. 

Information on Voting in Texas 

Citizens who are 18 years or older are eligible to vote in the March 5 primary. You must be 18 on the day of the primary, not by Election Day, as some other states have it. 

Citizens who have been declared mentally incapacitated by a court or are convicted of a felony during the time of the election, are unable to vote. There are exceptions for those who have served terms, been pardoned or are on parole. 

The deadline to register to vote was Feb. 5, if voters would like to check their voting status, they can check the Secretary of State portal. 

There are items that need to be brought in order to vote in order to identify voters. 

Voters must provide a valid form of identification to the polls including: a Texas driver’s license issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), a Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS, a Texas Personal Identification Card issued by DPS, Texas handgun license issued by DPS, U.S. Military Identification Card that contains the person's photograph, U.S. Citizenship Certificate that contains the person’s photograph, or a U.S. passport. 

If voters for not have any of the above forms of identification, they can also bring one of the following: A copy or original of a government document that shows the voter’s name, and address, including the voter’s voter registration certificate, a Copy of or original current utility bill, Copy of or original bank statement, Copy of or original government check, Copy of or original paycheck; or Copy of or original of (a) a certified birth certificate from a U.S. state or territory or (b) a document confirming birth admissible in a court of law which establishes the voter’s identity.

If voters do not have any of the options above, they can fill out a Reasonable Impediment Declaration. 

There are specific requirements for vote-by-mail voters in order to vote without physically being at the polls. Vote-by-mail voters must be 65 years old or older, sick or disabled, out of the county on Election Day and during the early voting period, or confined in jail but otherwise eligible.

Friday, Feb. 23 is the last day to apply for a mail-in ballot and it must be received by then, not just postmarked. 

The full list of positions on the ballot as well as the previous requirements, all information can be found here.  

Important Dates for the Texas Election

Feb. 5 is the deadline to register to vote. Feb. 23 is the deadline to register for mail-in voting. Mail-in-ballots must be postmarked either on March 5 or before and post-received by March 6 at 5 p.m. They can also be received in person on March 5 at 7 p.m.

Early voting in Texas will be held between Feb. 20 to March 1, with the actual day of the election on March 5. 

What to Expect Voting

Ballots in Texas are currently paper, voters will select their choices and at the end of the voting period, the ballots are counted by hand. On the ballot, voters can select their candidates or decisions by darkening the oval, completing an arrow, or marking the aid of a voting machine. 

Texas does not allow their voters to have any wireless communication device inside the voting booth or within 100 feet of voting stations but voters can bring written materials, like a paper with the names of the candidates voters plan on voting for or something meant to help them fill out the ballot. 

Any citizen/voter is not allowed to wear any apparel that is related to a candidate, measure, or political party that will be in the current election. People are allowed to wear apparel of candidates, measure, or political parties that are not participating in that election. 

A presiding judge is allowed to enforce the laws of the communication devices and the apparel that people choose to wear within 100 feet of the voting station entrance. You will likely be asked to remove the apparel before you are allowed to enter the building.  

Current Polling

As of Feb. 1, 2024, former President Trump is leading the Republican candidates with 72.4% of the votes. Nikki Haley is in second place with 17.7% of the votes for the Republican nomination.

Between Jan. 11-24, the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs polled that in Texas, 39% of voters supported President Biden and 43% supported Nikki Haley. When polled President Biden compared to former President Trump, Trump had 49% of voters and Biden had 40% of voters. 

There is no clear outcome of the Presidential election currently. It could be a tight race, even in Texas where in 2020, former president Donald Trump only won by less than six percentage points. The main issue for voting in Texas is that not a lot of Democrats go to the polls. In the 2022 primary, fewer Democratic voters registered to vote than in the 2018 primary and midterm races. In 2023, it seemed that Democrats were not going to vote. 

In the greater Houston metro area, fewer than one-fifth of registered voters voted in their mayor race in 2023. It is important to note that the entire ballot was for Democrats to vote for.

It does not seem that Texas will flip to blue in the upcoming election unless there is investment in the organization, candidate recruitment and there are strategic positions of candidates that people can agree with for swing voters while making sure to pay attention to liberal urban voters. This does not seem to be the case for the current election.  

Future Voting Dates

The primary runoff will be on May 28, 2024, and the general election will be on Nov. 5, 2024.