In an effort to increase his Secretary of State "bonafides," Sen. Lou Raptakis has re-introduced two pieces of legislation aimed at easing the burden for unaffiliated voters in the state.  One bill (2010-S2067) would shorten the disaffiliation period before voting in a Party primary election from 90 days to 29 days.  The second bill (2010-S2060) would allow unaffiliated voters to vote in a Party primary without becoming affiliated with that political party.

Both pieces of legislation have been introduced before and are have merit.  What I’m curious about, however, is how either of these bills will affect the closed primary issue over which the RIGOP is currently tearing itself apart.    My guess is that the push to close the Republican primary election will become more intense.  Raptakis’s bills would make it easier for unaffiliated voters to participate in Republican primaries, and that’s exactly what the majority of the Rhode Island Republican Party leadership wants to prevent.

“Enactment of [the shorter disaffiliation] bill will eliminate a major hurdle that Rhode Island throws in front of voters during our election season,” said Senator Raptakis. “The primary is a key part of the election process. Elections can be won or lost in the primary. Why allow a person to register only 30 days before an election but require a registered voter to change parties 90 days before a primary? It doesn’t make sense. It is an obsolete law that needs to be changed. We should make it easier for voters to participate, not put more impediments in their way.”

As for the second bill, it would prevent unaffiliated voters from having to fill out a form to disaffiliate from a particular Party after casting a ballot in that Party’s primary election. 

“The person signing the form to obtain the ballot is making no commitment to be a party voter,” said Senator Raptakis. “The voter is only saying that, for that particular primary, he or she wants to vote as either a Democrat or Republican. People shouldn’t automatically be classified as anything without their explicit approval, and they shouldn’t have to sign a second form, moments after voting, to indicate that.”

Both are important pieces of legislation which would make voting in Rhode Island a little easier for unaffiliated voters.  Seeing as slightly over 48% of registered voters in the state are unaffiliated, it would be common sense to make it easier for them to vote in Party primaries.

If the RIGOP pursues their closed primary issue to court (and I have no doubt they will if they can get past the Gio Cicione roadblock), it’s likely they’ll win.  If so, then the changes made by Raptakis’s legislation (assuming they move forward) would only affect unaffiliated Democratic primary voters.