Foreword In 2010, I was introduced to the concept of a ‘closed - TopicsExpress

Foreword In 2010, I was introduced to the concept of a ‘closed primary’. Senate Bill 53, an act relating to elections, was introduced for consideration during the 2010 Kentucky General Assembly Legislative Session. The bill sought to abolish closed primaries in Kentucky, and introduce a semi-closed version which allowed Independents to participate in partisan primaries in its place. Although it passed in the Senate committee, the House committee chose not to send it to the floor. It has been debated in committee many times since, and has failed to pass both houses. During the debate, I heard preachers and journalists speak out about their needs to remain partisan neutral. The Kentucky State Clerks Association stated it would be too expensive to expand the ballot information. Representatives on the committee feared malicious voting and moderation of the elected official. Michael Lewis, chairman of Independent Kentucky, stated he just wanted the opportunity, as a tax paying citizen, to cast his vote, especially since Kentucky had such highly concentrated districts, where the winner of the election was often determined in the primary. The arguments for opening primaries seemed to outweigh those against it. When the bill failed to pass committee, I got upset. I could not understand why they were allowed to oppress 200K voters from participating. In Kentucky, if you’re not a Democrat or Republican, you cannot even participate in the Presidential Primary! I stormed out of the room much to the dismay of my supervisor. My flabbergasted, hissy fit has turned into a four-year quest attempting to answer those questions and many more. Soon, I hope to present the committee with an argument they cannot refuse. The following research paper has given me the tools to remove my emotional need for “fairness”, and instead focus on what really happens to the political landscape of the state when you change the primary type. This research has taken many attempts, and sometimes I feel as if it will never be complete. To the best of my knowledge, the following paper is a full presentation of the ideological changes that occur within the electorate according to primary type. Furthermore, I test whether or not the primary type affects the number of women elected to state legislatures. I hope you enjoy this paper as much as I enjoyed researching it. youtube/watch?v=9eROTYeIyJg&list=PL_JbDMXdoMHVoISEadCxCv1YE0XeO2gJi&index=4