Primaries are sacred to voters who identify with a particular party. It is the only time the party's members can choose WHO their candidate will be. The winner of a primary will become the candidate who runs against the other party's candidate.

The Republican Party's bylaws expressly state who is a bona fide Republican and who can freely vote in a Republican Primary. The Democrat Party has its own rules to determine party members.

Tennessee does not require a voter to declare a party officially with the state in order to vote in primaries. Tennessee has Open Primaries.

What are Open Primaries? Open Primaries are primaries where a voter can vote in a Republican or Democrat primary regardless of their party affiliation. Example: A Democrat can vote in a Republican primary. This is called a Crossover Vote.

Is a Crossover Vote illegal? Technically, yes. “It is a violation of Tennessee Code Annotated Section 2-7-115(b), and punishable as a crime under Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-19-102 or Section 2-19-107, if a person votes in a political party’s primary without being a bona fide member of or affiliated with that political party, or to declare allegiance to that party without the intent to affiliate with that party.”

What does a Crossover Vote do? In Open Primaries it allows an Independent to vote in a party’s primary with no allegiance to any party; it allows Democrats to vote in Republican primaries and visa versa. The winners move to a general election where any voter can vote for any party's candidate. A Crossover Vote dilutes a party member’s vote. For example, a Republican in good faith goes to the polls and votes in the Republican primary. A Crossover Vote dilutes that Republican’s vote in their own primary. Crossover Voters are Party Crashers. It is unethical to affiliate with one party and vote in the other party’s primary to manipulate the outcome of the primary. General elections are a way for voters to vote for any candidate regardless of party.

Why would anyone vote in a party in which they are not affiliated? To prop up their “true” candidate in their own party in which they are affiliated by nominating a candidate in the other party who has a lesser chance of winning in the general election, to disenfranchise party voters, and/or to deliberately dilute party votes of the opposition. It’s a game that has been played for too long. Crossover Voters use the Open Primary rules against bona fide party members and are never called out for it. It has become a sneaky tactic to manipulate primary results.

The People are tired of being disenfranchised and need to have confidence in the process that if they are affiliated with a party, then only they can vote in that affiliated party's primary. Why have a primary at all if anyone can vote in any party's primary? That's what the general election is for.

As a primary voter, your vote is zeroed out by each Crossover Vote. It is Not Your Primary, anymore.

Can a primary be contested? Yes. Currently, the Tennessee State Representative District 33 August 2024 Republican primary is being contested based on excessive numbers of Crossover Votes as evidenced on our landing page. This contest is NOT about who won and who lost. It is about the disenfranchisement of bona fide party member primary votes.

Who makes a decision on the contest? The party’s State Executive Committee is also the Primary Board and makes a decision about the contest.

When is the hearing scheduled for this contest? September 7th, 2024