Rotating Regional Primary System
Encyclopedia
The Rotating Regional Primary System is a proposed system for reform of the United States presidential primary
process. Under the plan, the country would be divided into four regions. The plan is being promoted by the National Association of Secretaries of State
.http://www.nass.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=74&Itemid=210
Under the NASS plan, party primaries/caucuses to select national convention delegates would be grouped by region beginning in 2012.
A drawing would be held to determine which region would begin the sequence the first year of the plan. The next presidential election year, the region that held the first position would move to the end of the sequence, and the other regions would move forward.
Primaries/caucuses in each state of a given region would be scheduled on or soon after the first Tuesday in March, April, May or June of presidential election years. States in the same region wouldn't necessarily be required to hold their primaries/caucuses on the same day.
Iowa and New Hampshire would retain their leading positions in the presidential selection process in order to continue to encourage retail politics.
Advisory Commission on the Presidential Nominating Process passed over the Rotating Regional plan in favor of the Delaware Plan
. In 2005, the Democratic National Committee's
Commission on Presidential Nomination Timing and Scheduling ranked it ninth on a list of ten priorities, just above keeping the status quo.
Larry Sabato
, Director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics
, proposed a lottery system in his book, A More Perfect Constitution
. This would use the same regions as above, but would wait until about 6 months before the first primary before selecting the order of the primaries. This would prevent candidates from "camping out" in early primary states. http://www.centerforpolitics.org/reform/report_nominating.htm
This can also be adjusted to prevent a region from being picked twice in a row, or to prevent any region that went first the last two times from going first.
One criticism of the regional system is that the East is a very liberal region, while the South is very conservative. Given the stability of the voting patterns over the last several elections, regions might be balanced politically, at the possible cost of some contiguity. For example, instead of including Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey in with New York and New England, a balanced region might bounce over to Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky instead. There would be a loss of regional identity, and non-contiguous regions, but there would be a gain of political balance.
In a given election, after the first and second regions have held primaries, the remaining two regions can be combined to hold a final primary. This would shorten the primary schedule, and leave no "fourth primary" likely scheduled after the nominees have been selected.
United States presidential primary
The series of presidential primary elections and caucuses is one of the first steps in the process of electing the President of the United States of America. The primary elections are run by state and local governments, while caucuses are private events run by the political parties...
process. Under the plan, the country would be divided into four regions. The plan is being promoted by the National Association of Secretaries of State
National Association of Secretaries of State
The National Association of Secretaries of State , founded in 1904, is the oldest non-partisan professional organization of public officials in the United States, composed of the Secretaries of State of U.S. states and territories. Currently, all secretaries of state, including Washington D.C.,...
.http://www.nass.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=74&Itemid=210
A drawing would be held to determine which region would begin the sequence the first year of the plan. The next presidential election year, the region that held the first position would move to the end of the sequence, and the other regions would move forward.
Primaries/caucuses in each state of a given region would be scheduled on or soon after the first Tuesday in March, April, May or June of presidential election years. States in the same region wouldn't necessarily be required to hold their primaries/caucuses on the same day.
Iowa and New Hampshire would retain their leading positions in the presidential selection process in order to continue to encourage retail politics.
- Regional Groupings Under the NASS Plan
- EastEastern United StatesThe Eastern United States, the American East, or simply the East is traditionally defined as the states east of the Mississippi River. The first two tiers of states west of the Mississippi have traditionally been considered part of the West, but can be included in the East today; usually in...
: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. - SouthSouthern United StatesThe Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. - MidwestMidwestern United StatesThe Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
: Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. - WestWestern United States.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming and Guam.
- East
Criticism
Both the Republican and Democratic parties have been lukewarm to the concept. In 2000, the Republican National Committee'sRepublican National Committee
The Republican National Committee is an American political committee that provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is...
Advisory Commission on the Presidential Nominating Process passed over the Rotating Regional plan in favor of the Delaware Plan
Delaware Plan
The Delaware Plan is a proposed system to reorganize the state presidential primary elections amongst the 50 states and the several territories of the United States...
. In 2005, the Democratic National Committee's
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...
Commission on Presidential Nomination Timing and Scheduling ranked it ninth on a list of ten priorities, just above keeping the status quo.
Large initial primary size
The size of the initial regional primary may be large enough to prevent less-funded candidates from being able to compete.Liberal bias
Also, several of the regions (most notably the South and East regions) show significant political bias one way or the other. Overall, this may be seen as a liberal bias: the South is quite conservative, the Midwest is neutral, the West is moderately liberal, and the east is more strongly liberal. With 2 liberal-leaning regions vs. only one conservative-leaning region, in more elections the parties may be tilted toward liberal candidates. This flaw can be corrected with politically neutral regions, mentioned below.Options
- Lottery system
Larry Sabato
Larry Sabato
Larry Joseph Sabato is an American political scientist and analyst. He is the Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia, and director of its Center for Politics. He founded Sabato's Crystal Ball, an online newsletter and website that provides free political analysis and...
, Director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics
University of Virginia Center for Politics
The University of Virginia Center for Politics was founded in 1998 by professor and political analyst Larry J. Sabato to put into practice his belief that "Politics is a good thing!" The Center for Politics is a nonpartisan organization based in Charlottesville, Virginia, which seeks to increase...
, proposed a lottery system in his book, A More Perfect Constitution
A More Perfect Constitution
A More Perfect Constitution is a non-fiction book by American political scientist Larry J. Sabato, published in 2007. In it, Sabato calls for a new constitutional convention to update the United States Constitution....
. This would use the same regions as above, but would wait until about 6 months before the first primary before selecting the order of the primaries. This would prevent candidates from "camping out" in early primary states. http://www.centerforpolitics.org/reform/report_nominating.htm
This can also be adjusted to prevent a region from being picked twice in a row, or to prevent any region that went first the last two times from going first.
- Politically balanced regions
One criticism of the regional system is that the East is a very liberal region, while the South is very conservative. Given the stability of the voting patterns over the last several elections, regions might be balanced politically, at the possible cost of some contiguity. For example, instead of including Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey in with New York and New England, a balanced region might bounce over to Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky instead. There would be a loss of regional identity, and non-contiguous regions, but there would be a gain of political balance.
- Combination of final two regions
In a given election, after the first and second regions have held primaries, the remaining two regions can be combined to hold a final primary. This would shorten the primary schedule, and leave no "fourth primary" likely scheduled after the nominees have been selected.
See also
- United States presidential electionUnited States presidential electionElections for President and Vice President of the United States are indirect elections in which voters cast ballots for a slate of electors of the U.S. Electoral College, who in turn directly elect the President and Vice President...
- United States presidential nominating conventionUnited States presidential nominating conventionA United States presidential nominating convention is a political convention held every four years in the United States by most of the political parties who will be fielding nominees in the upcoming U.S. presidential election...
- Electoral College (United States)
- Ames Straw PollAmes Straw PollThe Ames Straw Poll is a presidential straw poll taken by Iowa Republicans. It occurs in Ames, Iowa on the campus of Iowa State University, on a Saturday in August of years in an election cycle in which the Republican presidential nomination seems to be undecided...
- Iowa caucusIowa caucusThe Iowa caucuses are an electoral event in which residents of the U.S. state of Iowa meet in precinct caucuses in all of Iowa's 1784 precincts and elect delegates to the corresponding county conventions. There are 99 counties in Iowa and thus 99 conventions...
- New Hampshire primaryNew Hampshire primaryThe New Hampshire primary is the first in a series of nationwide political party primary elections held in the United States every four years , as part of the process of choosing the Democratic and Republican nominees for the presidential elections to be held the subsequent November.Although only a...
- Graduated Random Presidential Primary SystemGraduated Random Presidential Primary SystemThe Graduated Random Presidential Primary System, also known as the California Plan or the American Plan, is a proposed system to reform the conduct of United States Presidential primary campaigns. Under this system the campaign period would be broken into ten two-week periods in which an...
- Delaware PlanDelaware PlanThe Delaware Plan is a proposed system to reorganize the state presidential primary elections amongst the 50 states and the several territories of the United States...
- Interregional Primary PlanInterregional Primary PlanThe Interregional Primary Plan is a proposed reform to the United States primary calendar supported by Representative Sandy Levin and Senator Bill Nelson, both Democrats. The plan would break the country into six regions...
- United States presidential primary#Reform proposals