By Steve Brawner , © 2025 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Lawmakers mainly do two things. Both they and voters should not focus so much on the first that they ignore the second.

The first thing lawmakers do is enact policies. That’s what Americans tend to care about, whether it’s the economy, foreign policy, or hot-button culture-war issues such as immigration, abortion, or guns.

These issues are divisive. The passions they arise have created an us-versus-them dynamic, both in Congress and in communities.

The more those flames get fanned, the less likely elected officials will do the second thing well: protecting, preserving and strengthening the democratic process itself. 

While many issues come and go, that one’s been constant since the country’s founding. How do we govern ourselves in a way that honors the people’s will while also tempering public passions? That question will continue to be asked until the day America’s constitutional republic ceases to exist. Continue reading →

By Steve Brawner, © 2025 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Should Arkansas voters be required to declare they are Republicans in order to vote in Republican Party primaries? They won’t be after a court decision May 5. 

The case stems from a vote by rank-and-file Republicans at last year’s state convention to close the primaries. Members did not want non-Republicans, particularly Democrats, voting in their primary. The Executive Committee leadership did not agree. Eighteen of its 24 members voted to rescinded the vote in July. In response, 22 party delegates sued the party chairman, the secretary of state, and the state Board of Election Commissioners.

This is a good, old-fashioned intraparty conflict, in the middle of which U.S. District Judge Brian Miller said he could not get. In his seven-page decision May 5, he wrote that a federal courtroom was not the place to settle the dispute. 

First, he wrote that it’s not a constitutional case. It was not about freedom of speech because the Republican Party of Arkansas is not a government entity. It was not about freedom of association because the RPA can decide its own rules. 

If state laws governed the process, then state officials could regulate. However, the law merely says that parties must prescribe qualifications for voting in primaries and must create rules and procedures. It’s up to the party. Regardless, he wrote that the U.S. Constitution’s 11th Amendment states that federal courts cannot compel state officials to obey state law.  Continue reading →

By Steve Brawner, © 2024 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Many questions await answers after Election Day. Let’s consider a few of them, starting with …

Which party will control the Senate and the House of Representatives? The answer, or answers, will largely determine the next president’s agenda. If everything is controlled by one party, then the president will have an easier time accomplishing some of his or her goals – or at least he or she won’t be investigated by congressional committees. If one party controls the White House and the Senate, then more of the president’s judicial appointments will be confirmed. Otherwise, we’ll generally have gridlock, which may be the best scenario given the alternatives.

Gridlock basically is what we have now. Democrats control the Senate, 51-49, while Republicans control the House, 220-212 with three vacancies. 

After the election, Republicans likely will control the Senate because Democrats are defending 23 of the 34 contested seats, including some in states where they are vulnerable. Those include an open West Virginia seat that Republicans will win, and a Montana seat where the Republican is leading the Democratic incumbent. If Republicans gain control, Arkansas’ Sen. John Boozman is in line to chair the Agriculture Committee.  Continue reading →

By Steve Brawner, © 2024 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Early voting had already started October 21 when Arkansans finally learned the state Supreme Court had disqualified the medical marijuana amendment from the ballot. 

The decision came a little more than two weeks before Election Day Nov. 5, which surely we all can agree is too late in the process.

This happens a lot. Maybe the next Supreme Court chief justice can do something about it. 

Two current justices, Rhonda Wood and Karen Baker, are vying to be chief justice. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette gave them both a chance to address the issue in its Sunday edition Oct. 13. 

The article quoted a news release from Wood where she said she planned to create a working group to review the process and potentially change Arkansas Supreme Court rules. Changes could include adding a deadline for legal challenges, allowing ballot title changes to come earlier than they do now, and providing a 14-day briefing calendar and five-day deadline for the court to issue its opinion. That latter change would have produced a decision by Sept. 16 this year.  Continue reading →