State Auditor Andrew Sorrell joined The Yaffee Program on Thursday to speak on a number of topics,  including his strong support for closing primaries in Alabama to any voters not registered as Republicans.

Sorrell has been working to close primaries in the state since taking the title of bylaws chairman for the Alabama Republican Party

“I’ve been on the Alabama State Republican Executive Committee now for about 10 years,” said Sorrell. “I carried a resolution before the party, I think it was. Quote me on this, maybe 2016, 2017, somewhere in there calling for closed primaries in the past with something like 90% of the vote. So this is something I’ve long been on the record supporting. It makes great sense. I almost fear that even if we pass it now, we’re too late because Alabama is so red now that everyone already votes in the Republican primaries.”

He explained that participating in the Democratic primary in Alabama is futile, leading many liberals to vote in the conservative primary.

According to Sorrell,  it’s “better late than never” to restrict voting to registered Republicans.

“The best time to plant the tree was 20 years ago,” he said. “The second best time to plan it is today. So let’s go ahead and plant the tree. Let’s close our primaries.”

In 2022, the members of the Alabama Republican Party (ALGOP) state executive committee voted overwhelmingly to approve a resolution calling for party registration and closed primary elections.

Alabama is one of 15 states with open primaries, while nine states currently have closed primaries.

Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten