AND CLOSE THE PRIMARY:

When asked about the GOP's poor performance in the 2022 midterm elections, Gov. Chris Sununu succinctly summed up the mood of the voters: "Fix policy later, fix crazy now." [...]

Everything about this process is stupid. And unnecessarily so. Fixing it won't keep so-called "fringe" candidates off the ballot. But it would improve the odds of higher-quality candidates for voters to pick from in the general election. Which in turn would increase confidence in our Democratic system.

Here is a modest proposal to bring the electoral madness to an end.

Make Candidates Work to Get on the Ballot

Why is perennial loser Andy Martin on the ballot every two years for a federal office? Because ... why not?

Getting on the ballot in New Hampshire for U.S. Senate is as easy as paying a $100 fee or turning in 200 signed primary petitions. For the U.S. House, it's just 50 bucks.

That is why, in addition to Gen. Don Bolduc and state Senate President Chuck Morse there were nine other candidates for voters to sort through. Some, like Kevin Smith and Vikram Mansharamani, had name ID. But Martin? Or John Berman? Or Tejasinha Sivalingam? [...]

Force Primary Candidates to Actually Win the Nomination.

Setting aside the debate over "candidate quality" and Trump vs. non-Trump, there was one indisputable fact about the GOP nominees in the federal races last year. A majority of the voters in their own party voted for someone else in the primary. That's what happens when 11 people run for U.S. Senate and there's no minimum vote threshold.

It's not necessarily a political death sentence to win with a plurality. Chris Sununu only got 30.7 percent of the primary vote in 2016 and went on to break the Democrats' hold on the governor's office. But it sure doesn't help. [...]

Move the Primary Date.

This is a no-brainer. Forcing a party's candidates to fight each other until the final weeks before the general election is nothing but pure incumbent protection. And in the era of recounts and lawsuits, it's also a landmine waiting to explode.

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