Remember how three out of four political parties (Dems, Libs, Cons) in South Dakota flunked conventioneering in 2018? I saw an early bill in the hopper dealing with political conventions and thought, “Hot dog! We’re gonna change the rules!”
And indeed, buried in House Bill 1008, I find a recommendation from the Secretary of State’s office that opens the door to more excitement. Tucked in its pure, beautiful style and form change, updating the creaking verbage of SDCL 12-5-17 to active voice, is a provision to give parties more time to serve notice of their conventions:
Current language: Each political party shall hold a state convention in each even-numbered year in which they are necessary for the purposes of § 12-5-21. The time and place of holding such convention shall be determined by the State Central Committee of each political party, the chairman of which shall notify the secretary of state at least thirty days previous to the date so chosen.
HB 1008 proposed language: Each political party shall hold a state convention in each even-numbered year for the purposes stated in § 12-5-21. The state central committee of each political party shall determine the time and place of the convention. The chair of the committee shall notify the secretary of state at least five days prior to the date chosen.
I jealously guard sos and of-whiches. But do we need to guard those 30 days?
Right now parties have to give the Secretary of State and the public 30 days notice of a convention. HB 1008 would recognize the bind in which put screw-up parties last summer and change that notice period to five days.
That’s exciting! The State Central Committee could shout “Convention!” on Monday, and we could all be at the Ramkota or the Pizza Ranch on Saturday picking candidates. And if we somehow screw up our first convention in June, we have more time to get our ducks in a row, line up a hall, and then call the meeting to fix our mistake and salvage our nominations.
But wait a minute: is that really a good idea? I could imagine crafty party leaders taking advantage of that short notice, calling a snap convention when maybe some faction of the party doesn’t expect it, and ramming through nominees before party activists can gather their delegates and candidates to oppose the leadership’s choices.
2018’s bumbling shows the usefulness of a shorter notice period. But let’s hear the testimony on this bill to make sure there’s no downside.
What is the purpose of notifying the SOS of the date of the conventions? I’m asking if this statute is necessary? I’d be interested in the history of this provision. Why was it adopted in the first place? I realize there was a lot of suspicion thrown at political parties and their secret maneuverings during certain periods of state history. Is this statute a result of that? Would it be wise to continue it, modify as suggested or maybe 15 days, or get rid of it altogether.
Does the SOS have to attend or send staff to each convention? Is it a way to assure that convention scheduling is staggered? Does it protect party members from stealthy maneuvers?
Constitutional convention?
Put all the statewide offices through the primary process and you’ll have far fewer career politicians in meaningless jobs and you’ll get better candidates in the general. The way it is now the fellow with the (R) by his name just wins outright and he only gets voted on by a relatively small group of those delegate fellows, many of whom are insaner than most of the general electorate.
Or, as some of you and I like, let’s just do a massive Jungle Primary.
I like that idea, Grudz. Wisconsin runs primaries for Constitutional offices. Some years we don’t have many takers, but this year there was a lot of interest. Keep the signature requirement relatively modest, though.
“But wait a minute: is that really a good idea? I could imagine crafty party leaders taking advantage of that short notice, calling a snap convention when maybe some faction of the party doesn’t expect it, and ramming through nominees before party activists can gather their delegates and candidates to oppose the leadership’s choices.”
But isn’t that what already happen last June? At that convention, we nominated all of our candidates early on the first day before most delegates had had a chance to even mingle. ;-)
#HurriedDemocracy
Touché, Mr. Claussen! We won’t legislate away intrapartisan scheming. Maintaining democracy requires constant vigilance and rabble-rousing.