Party members should be the only ones voting in primaries | Opinion

Stop the steal! Heard that before? It has now reached the Madison County Republican Primary.

The last few weeks, there have been discussions on local radio, newspaper, and other media concerning Tennessee’s Primary Election Law. In some cases, the law was incorrectly quoted by skipping critical phrases or sentences. In other cases, people were asked to knowingly break the law.

Our vote is one of our most sacred rights. If you steal my car, I can replace it. But if someone steals or dilutes my vote, it is lost forever. Tennessee’s Primary Law is simple, Republicans and Democrats are required to vote in their own primary if they wish to vote. This is not optional. The wording is very clear.

Violating this law is a very serious action, prosecuted as a Class C misdemeanor and under certain circumstances, a possible felony (per Mark Goins, State Election Commission).

Primaries are used for each party to select their nominee. That nominee should share the political views and values of their party. It is wrong to interfere with this process. To preserve our rights, we must have fair elections. Any attempt to altar, cancel, dilute, or change any election must be met with serious resistance.

Please vote in your party’s primary to select your candidate and then in the general election to select the candidate of your choice regardless of party.

Hope this will stop the misleading and untrue statements and clarify that Republican Primaries are for Republicans and Democratic Primaries are for Democrats.

Scott Golden is the chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party, and Larry Lowrance is the chairman of the Madison County Republican Party.

This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: Party members should be the only ones voting in primaries | Opinion