With the start of early voting in the Republican Presidential Primary, as a voter, you will also encounter three Republican Party Advisory Questions. These questions are supposed to help the party develop a platform for change regarding specific issues. Since there is a large amount of ambiguity in the wording of the questions, I would like to offer my opinion on what they are asking of you.
Question 1:
Should South Carolina law be changed to give people the right to register to vote with the political party of their choice?
This question asks voters if they believe primaries in South Carolina should be closed. A closed primary is one in which a voter must declare their party affiliation before voting in that primary, or if they do vote in a specific party primary, they will, in the future, be registered as a member of that party. I am going to be voting yes on this question. If this is adopted, it will significantly curtail the current practice of Democrats crossing over and voting in Republican primaries, even though they have no intentions of supporting the winner of the Republican primary in the general election.
Question 2:
Should South Carolina adopt reforms to increase the independence and accountability of our judiciary by improving transparency and reducing conflicts of interest in the process of reviewing judicial qualifications and electing judges?
This question is pretty self-explanatory: Do we want to learn more about those people who are nominated for judgeships? It sounds like a plan to me, and I will be voting yes on this question.
Questions 3:
Should it be an immediate legislative priority to protect South Carolina’s competitiveness and small businesses by changing state law so that a person’s responsibility for financial damages in a lawsuit is based on that person’s actual share of responsibility?
Now, this question is a loaded gun. I can’t figure out what they mean. Would a law based on this work? How would they judge responsibility? Who would be the ultimate one to determine this responsibility of the individual being sued? I think this should be left up to 12 people sitting in a jury box. My vote will be no on this question.
I hope this helps you when you go to the polls to vote for our Republican presidential nominee. The final say should be yours and yours alone. So get out and vote and make a difference. It is the American way.