A group of Republican Party of Arkansas (RPA) members filed an injunction in federal court Sunday in an effort to close Arkansas Republican Party primary elections.
This comes after the measure was passed by delegates in June to make it so only registered Republicans could vote in GOP primaries. The injunction asks the court to mandate Secretary of State John Thurston recognize the vote outcome from the Republican state convention.
In the filing, the court is asked to “take immediate steps to ensure that the rules and platform changes are published and adhere to all relevant party and election procedures.”
A dismissal was filed Monday by the office of Attorney General Tim Griffin. The dismissal called the RPA injunction request “threadbare” in his response.
The goal of closing the primary would be to ensure that only registered Republicans could vote in the party’s primary election. The concerns the RPA heard were that Arkansas Democrats were voting in Republican primaries.
In Arkansas law, voters are required to declare their political affiliation before voting in primary elections, but the same requirements aren’t in place for general elections.
Secretary of State John Thurston says that changing to a closed primary for the GOP would require a change in Arkansas law, but supporting RPA members say this isn’t true.
Griffin’s call for dismissal is critical of the procedure followed during the RPA convention vote, including the “scant details” surrounding the vote. Controversy arose in voting procedures, leading to the RPA executive committee voting in July that RPA votes at the convention, including the closed primary, were “null and void.”
RPA members filed a suit against the executive committee’s vote in August, asking for an injunction.
Griffin’s dismissal motion says the call for an injunction is part of an “intraparty dispute” as an additional reason for dismissal. The motion also points out that Thurston is immune from the suit since the entire argument exists in intraparty politics.
The trial date has not been set by the court at this time.
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