Several states allow people registered with one party to vote in the primary of the other party. Some unethical people take advantage of this situation to disrupt the outcome of the primary in that state.
After careful study I have determined that this is not a significant problem. Where it is a problem the best solutions are with the candidates and with the people, not the election system. However there are some system changes to be made as well.
In the spirit of democracy I would like to believe that the citizen can vote in the primary of whichever party he chooses. However, in practical political life, there are unethical citizens from both parties do cross party voting to affect the outcome. What this means is that the election results of the primaries in those states cannot always be trusted.
The best solution lies the political leadership and the people. The leadership should discourage cross party voting just to disrupt elections. Nothing good comes of such activity. The leadership should encourage ethical voting behavior at all times.
The second solution lies with the candidates themselves. If there seems to be a significant amount of cross party voting, then the candidates should have a healthy distrust of the election results. Don’t drop out based on the results of that state. Campaign in other states and see if the trend is any different.
Regarding changes in the primary system, the political parties can test the validity of election results using their own methods. The best indicator of voting accuracy is to poll the members of the political party. One state convention will do. In larger states, the political party can hold several conventions in major cities.
Entrance to these conventions will be restricted to party faithful. Then the convention will have a non-binding straw poll of the members. If the straw poll of the party faithful is similar to the results of the official primary, then the election results can be trusted. If not, then the party leadership will be quick to note the difference, and caution the candidates not to trust the official results.
I am opposed to mandating proof of political allegiance from the government when voting in the primary. This adds an extra layer of bureaucracy. It also denies the honest citizens (who believe that the other party really does offer the best choices that year) an opportunity to encourage the best candidate. Instead, it is best to have mechanisms like the party straw poll. The political party is a private entity, and they rent a private facility for their convention. They can restrict access and check party loyalty easily and without legal concern.
