Few back closed primary

© 2002 Deseret News

Two-thirds of Utahns oppose the Utah Republican Party's decision to close the GOP primary Tuesday to only registered Republicans, a new Deseret News/KSL poll shows.

Even half of the Republicans surveyed by Dan Jones & Associates oppose the closing of their own party's primary.

But worse, Jones found that as some GOP leaders feared, a number of Utahns will be less likely to vote for Republican candidates in November's general election because GOP state delegates decided a year ago to close Tuesday's primary.

"I'm personally not a fan of a registered Republican-only primary," said Joe Cannon, state GOP chairman, after hearing the poll numbers. "But we're making the best of it."

Cannon said the state GOP is using its auto-dial system to telephone tens of thousands of voters in the 1st and 2nd congressional districts — both of which have GOP primaries Tuesday — asking them to vote in the Republican primary and briefly explaining the new voting system.

"We're encouraging people who voted in a past primary, where there were only Republicans on the ballot, no Democrats, to vote in Tuesday's Republican primary. We want all people to come out and vote," Cannon said.

Not since the late 1960s have Utahns seen participation in a primary election based on a voter's affiliation with a political party. Back then it was the Democratic-controlled Legislature that forced voter registration by party. The next election, voters responded by throwing out a number of Democratic legislators and Republicans took control of both the House and Senate.

Meg Holbrook, state Democratic Party chairwoman, believes the GOP closing its primary shows the "arrogance" of the majority party in Utah. "I think there may be a backlash" by voters against Republican candidates, Holbrook said.

In a new statewide survey, Jones found that 66 percent of Utahns oppose the GOP move to close its primary election to only registered Republicans. Only 24 percent of Utahns favor the move. The rest don't care or don't know, Jones found.

But looking at the demographic breakdown of the question is telling. Fifty-three percent of those who told Jones they are Republicans oppose the closed primary. And 81 percent of independent (so-called unaffiliated) voters oppose closed GOP primaries, Jones found.