New VA Bill Would Give Voters a Truly Open Primary

image
Published: 26 Jan, 2018
Updated: 17 Oct, 2022
1 min read

Virginia Independent Voters Association Director Steve Richardson wrote an op-ed in The Virginian-Pilot Thursday in support of a new bill that would reform state primaries to a nonpartisan, top-two open primary similar to California and Washington state.

"THANKS TO Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, the Virginia General Assembly has an opportunity to return our commonwealth to its historical role as a leader of democracy. He has introduced a bill, HB1129, that would establish a truly open primary.

Instead of having to pick a party ballot in the primary and being stuck with only those choices, voters could vote for any candidate in the primary. The two candidates who receive the most votes would move on to the general election. This system is already used in Nebraska, California and Washington state.

Why is this important? Because we no longer have a representative democracy. Voter turnout is low because all the real decisions are made by party die-hards, who are responsible for the agenda items least supported by the majority of voters. Our system has been turned upside down because party politics force candidates to cater to the few in the primary so they can make it onto the general election ballot.

Virginia voters have shut down several attempts to close our party primaries. A strong show of support by voters for Rasoul’s open primary bill — especially at this critical juncture in American politics — could persuade lawmakers of both major parties to do the right thing by passing this bill."

Read the full op-ed here.

Photo Credit: Rob Crandall / shutterstock.com

Latest articles

Marijuana plant.
Why the War on Cannabis Refuses to Die: How Boomers and the Yippies Made Weed Political
For much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, American physicians freely prescribed cannabis to treat a wide range of ailments. But by the mid-twentieth century, federal officials were laying the groundwork for a sweeping criminal crackdown. Cannabis would ultimately be classified as a Schedule I substance, placed alongside heroin and LSD, and transformed into a political weapon that shaped American policy for the next six decades....
30 Jun, 2025
-
2 min read
Donald Trump standing behind presidential podium and in front of two American flags.
Has Trump Made His Case for the Nobel Peace Prize?
A news item in recent days that was overshadowed in the media by SCOTUS and the One Big Beautiful Budget Bill was a US-brokered peace agreement that was signed between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – which if it holds will end a conflict between the two countries that has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands of people....
30 Jun, 2025
-
7 min read
Picture of skyscraper in New York behind a bridge.
Knives Come Out Against Reform at NYC CRC Hearing as Independents Rise
Last week in Staten Island, the NYC Charter Revision Commission held its next-to-last public hearing. As Commissioner Diane Savino commented, addressing NYC's closed primary system “is the single biggest issue we’ve heard this year.”...
30 Jun, 2025
-
3 min read