by Thomas Reiner, ©2023
(Apr. 12, 2023) — Here in Arizona, Precinct Committeemen (PCs) are the foundation of the Republican Party. A PC is a dedicated Republican who represents their immediate local community and is in essence an ordinary citizen who is willing to stand up for their beliefs. It is undeniably American. Ideally, the PC structure is a democratic bottom-up approach where PCs hold the power, approve proposed bylaw changes, and elect Executive Committees (ECs) to guide and represent them. This is similar to how the House of Representatives works. PCs can also be promoted to the state level to elect AZGOP representatives which guide the direction of Republicanism in Arizona.
Unfortunately, this democratic bottoms-up approach can be subverted with an autocratic top- down model. A clever Chairman of the EC can concentrate power at the top by denying the ability of the lower-level PCs from direct communication with one another. When a PC in a committee chair position merely points out a violation of a Bylaw, they can and have been summarily fired without a hearing. The Chairman can illegally show bias with impunity when there is a contested Primary election.
A larger problem is a ghost PC. A ghost is a person who becomes a PC with sole allegiance to an individual, usually a relative, rather than fundamental Republican values. The ghost will never or rarely attend meetings nor fulfill their PC Republican responsibilities. At election time, the ghost submits a biased proxy vote which unfairly skews preference to their candidate without consideration of the merits of the competition. Debate is squashed and an autocratic EC is likely to form.
There is no clear solution for the elimination of ghost PCs, only ideas which merit discussion and debate. Some suggestions are the elimination of proxy votes entirely, limiting proxy votes to certain criteria such as surgery, verified illness or travel, limiting the number of proxy votes/carrier, limiting the number of proxies to one per year, signature attendance requirements at PC meetings with a threshold for elimination of PC status due to non- participation.
Another problem which demands Bylaw reform is the lack of rules for contesting audited, verified elections. Currently there is no criteria to stop disgruntled PCs from demanding a reelection or the removal of a winning candidate simply because their preferred candidate lost. This has or is occurring in LD1/LD3 and is literally ripping the Arizona Republican Party apart with vitriol, lies and half-truths, pitting Republican against Republican. As a result, neutral PCs feel powerless and participate less in Republicanism. Democrats laugh at this sophomoric behavior as it gives them an opening to win elections and turn Arizona permanently blue.