I read with interest the letter about open primaries in Maine.
The reason Paul LePage was elected and we have suffered all the embarrassment he has brought the state nationwide is because the independents put forth four candidates. They split the votes so much that an unfit candidate took the election with a small percentage of the votes.
Therefore, if I read the writer’s reasoning correctly, his open primary theory would solve this issue.
I would reason that if many candidates were allowed in the primary from all sources, the two candidates who advanced to the November election could get there by winning a small percentage of votes in the primary (because of the many candidates).
A better solution would be to keep the same system we have and mandate that each sector (independent, Republican, Democrat) advance only one candidate so we wouldn’t have a repeat of the last election fiasco.
Austin Brann
Vassalboro
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