PORTLAND, Maine — Maine’s tumultuous GOP presidential caucuses that sparked a revolution at the state party convention by angry Ron Paul supporters could provide extra support for a bill that would put Maine on a path to return to presidential primaries in four years.
Senate President Kevin Raye introduced the bill to restore presidential primaries a month after the GOP’s handling of its caucuses generated widespread criticism.
Supporters say primaries encourage greater voter participation compared to caucuses, which are often daylong affairs that tend to appeal to party activists.
“Mainers, on the whole, regardless of the party, are more apt to go to a voting booth than participate in a caucus, which is time consuming and confusing,” said Josh Tardy, a former GOP House leader. “Both parties want to appeal to the regular ordinary voter, not just the activists.”
Opponents tend to focus on the cost, which could reach more than $1 million, compared to caucuses, which are funded through the parties.
Raye’s proposal, which has been scaled back, would require the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee to draft a proposal to restore primaries to be considered by lawmakers next year.
It awaits final action next week in the Senate.
The nonbinding Republican caucuses last winter were a messy affair with Chairman Charlie Webster on Feb. 11 declaring Mitt Romney to be the winner under the state committee’s rules even though a snowstorm delayed votes in Washington County. Supporters of Paul, the Texas congressman and a presidential longshot, cried foul.
The GOP later acknowledged that numbers from some communities were inadvertently omitted and that the tallies were flip-flopped in Portland.
Romney remained the winner even after figures were adjusted and Washington County held its vote, but angry Paul supporters had the last word when they took over the party’s convention last weekend and stripped Romney of most of his delegates. Paul’s supporters installed their own convention chairman and won 21 out of 24 delegates to the national convention.
Even if Raye’s bill passes, it wouldn’t address what happened at the convention. Parties, after all, make up their own rules for electing delegates to the national convention.
The last presidential primaries were in 2000 — won by future Republican President George W. Bush and then-Vice President Al Gore, a Democrat — and the state paid more than $50,000 to print the ballots, said Megan Sanborn of the secretary of state’s office. A survey by the Maine Municipal Association suggested an expense of about $1 million for municipalities.
For Raye, he said it’s worth the money to boost participation and to ensure an accurate vote count on something as important as a presidential preference poll. After all, the state already holds a separate primary in June for congressional, gubernatorial and legislative races, he said.
Neither of the major parties is taking a position on Raye’s proposal.
Webster, for his part, said he has no interest in repeating the caucus problems that drew unwanted national attention. If he had a do-over, he said, he would recommend against holding a nonbinding vote that in the end had no bearing on apportionment of delegates.
“When it comes to the caucuses, one candidate got a few more votes [than the other] in this beauty contest poll and it didn’t mean anything,” he said.
i think that’s an awesome plan, i also think independent’s should be allowed to vote in the primary, with the crop of candidates that we get?, seems only fair. i also think on every ballot there should be a box that’s labeled, (none of the above, try again!) lol,,
with the amount of Independent’s I think you are right.
Because Maine has a same day voter registration law, unenrolled voter can/could vote in caucus/primary elections.
I don’t know the true differences between a primary and a caucus. All I know is that any missed opportunity to vote on any matter is an opportunity to empower you opponents.
Caucuses are crazy: great plan.
well, of course the GOP status quo old guard would like to change the system, they just got creamed with the one they have
the only reason Raye and others would like to move to a primary is to siffle the voice of minority factions who disagree with the consistently failed policies they have delivered
expect to see a similar tyranical maneuvers in other caucus states……they are stealing your right to vote openly and be present to ensure you have your vote counted properly….these moves are actively eroding the concept of representative democracy and will allow large population centers, such as Portland, Bangor, and Augusta to speak for the rural areas of Maine, likely selecting delegates the rural area residents would not have voted for….
It is absolutely shameful to see a supposed conservative republican submitting such a bill.
I don’t think the Party leadership is trying to steal the vote…I think they are being lazy. Keep the caucuses…and make them work!
“well, of course the GOP status quo old guard would like to change the system, they just got creamed with the one they have”
You do know that he introduced the Bill on or about March 15th. Way before the cluster this weekend. Who is he Nostradamus?? That whole non-binding caucus was a cluster also.
these moves are actively eroding the concept of representative democracy and will allow large population centers, such as Portland, Bangor, and Augusta to speak for the rural areas of Maine, likely selecting delegates the rural area residents would not have voted for….
So true. The clintons wanted to change the caucus states in dem primaries to voting on electronic machines. Hillary had trouble stealing votes in the states that caucused. In NY , Brooklyn and Harlem didn’t cast one vote for Obama. NYPD transported the ballots. That oddity was never questioned by the powers that be. Did make the news though, which was unusual. In NH, Obama did better in rural areas where ballots were on paper than in more thickly populated urban areas. Should have been the other way around. The electronic voting machines can be counted on to give the winning vote to the most business friendly candidate.
Read bradblog for election theft news. Only website on the internet which covers this subject honestly and consistently. Also blackboxvoting.
Kevin Raye, future Gov…… He will have to wait anothe 6 yrs for the current Gov to get done.
….
A picture is worth a thousand words, except for a full resume. Be careful of who you love.
Or only two years?
You never know….
A HUGE mistake if this is allowed to happen.
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So, basically the candidates backed up by the big banks and have millions or billions of dollars for advertisements win?
So the soon to be former President of the Maine Senate thinks having a special Presidential Primary election every 4 years is a good idea. Kevin Raye has been around Augusta for quite awhile and isn’t it strange how this is the first time he has sponsored legislation to convert from a caucus system to a primary system. I wonder? Could it have anything to do with the fact that the Republican State Committee Chairman tried to “steal” the election? Or was it maybe that he tried to ”steal” the election and got caught? Is having a Presidential Primary election a good idea for Maine? Maybe. Maybe not. What good would come out of Maine having a Presidential Primary? Would it cause all kinds of new jobs to be created? Perhaps a few very temporary ones, but not anything long lasting? Would a Presidential Primary provide a boost to Maine’s tourism business? Again maybe a little but a good ad campaign would probably do a lot better. The way things stand today the cost of the caucuses are the responsibility of the individual political parties. That means the cost to the tax payers is practically zero. If we switch to a Presidential Primary the cost are estimated to be around $1 million. That would be all taxpayer money. Now I am not the President of The Maine Senate. And I am probably not the brightest light on the Christmas tree, but it seems to me that the difference between zero and $1 million is a substantial amount of money. Add to that the fact that republican politicians have been screaming for the last couple of years that WE ARE BROKE and one has to wonder why Mr. Raye is so desperate to change to a Presidential Primary. Hey I have an idea. Instead of spending $1 million on a Presidential Primary why not have the two major parties just elect honest people to be their Chairperson?
“..angry Ron Paul supporters..”??
The only angry people I saw were Romney supporters.
No Matter. Flip the Liar Romney now claims he saved the American Auto Companies. I think Romney has become mentally unstable.
I read that as well on a national website. That the Romney supporters were trying to steal the election and were arbitrary. Why can’t the BDN send a reporter to the convention and tell the truth. I think it is odd that this article is written by an associated press reporter.
Maine already has a primary, in June, but it is too late to matter in the Presidential election cycle. Why not move to combine the presidential primary with the June primary and move it to the last Saturday in February? This should dramatically reduce the cost of holding two separate primaries.
Now, to make it even more interesting change the primary format from its current first past the post, winner take all format to a weighted voting primary, where the winner still gets all the delegates, but they have to also get at least 51% of the vote. This type primary voting would be held exactly like the most recent Portland City mayoral election.
By having a weighted voted primary, Maine would become as important as NH and Iowa in determining the parties candidates for president. Maine would reap the spending that candidates, campaigns, and the media would spend covering such an unique election. Increase revenues from just Hotel and Meal Taxes alone might pay for the cost of the primary.
Time to start thinking out of the box, Maine!
Republican Voter Fraud has become out of control. Time for elections instead of the so called caucus which is nothing but Good Ole Boy Corruption.