An idea worth considering
The Minnesota Legislature is considering a bill that would establish a presidential primary in the state.
Last month, record numbers of voters showed up for precinct caucuses for both the Republican and Democratic-Farmer- Labor parties, In some Twin Cities locations, the long lines overwhelmed those running the precinct caucuses, causing delays and resulting in a shortage of ballots.
While there were few, if any, reports of irregularities, such a situation begs for better regulation and oversight of the presidential candidate selection process. This year’s caucuses were unusual in that both political parties had highly contested races for the nomination... in fact, a month later, they still do.
Arguments have been made that the caucus system produces a better, more thoughtful result, because each party’s faithful are the ones who show up and help decide the straw poll and choose the delegates for the next level of conventions.
But that argument is blind to the fact that at many caucuses, people simply stayed long enough to cast a vote and then left.
One drawback to a primary system would be that the state, counties and cities would be on the hook to foot the bill for the election. However, with it would come better supervision and adherance to the rules of voting.
The primary system, just like the caucus system, has its flaws, but the state would be wise to explore all options. A decision doesn’t need to be made immediately - we won’t be going through this again until 2020, but a thorough study of the costs, the advantages and disadvantages would appear to be in order.