Sen. Scott Jenkins (R-Plain City) says he is going to sit on his proposed Constitutional Amendment that would allow political parties to nominate candidates in whatever way they choose until he sees what happens with the compromise between lawmakers and “Count My Vote.”
SJR 15 would keep the state from interfering with the way a political party puts nominees on the ballot, which could trump any other efforts to establish a direct primary or jettison the caucus system.Â
On Sunday, legislative leadership announced they had come to a compromise with organizers of the “Count My Vote” citizen initiative to create a dual-track system to the ballot, and Jenkins wants to see how that plays out before moving forward.
“I’m just going to sit on this for a few days to see if everyone signs on to the compromise. I don’t want to derail that process.”
Jenkins’ proposal could supersede the proposed compromise. Even though that would likely save the caucus system, Jenkins says not many lawmakers have approached him about his idea.
“Frankly, I’m surprised I haven’t had more discussions about this.”
Jenkins says nobody is sure what is going to happen with SB 54 as it moves to the House, but he wants to let that play out before moving on his legislation.
