After another setback for open primaries, reformers say the real breakthrough may be the growing civic power of New York City’s 1.2 million independent voters.
Despite pressure from within his own party, Robert Howden says Texas will defend its open primary system — and that any effort to close it belongs in the Legislature, not the courts.
After a legislative effort to require party registration stalled, the Alabama GOP made closing its primaries an official party priority—even as some Republican lawmakers warn it would shut out too many independent voters.
A constitutional lawsuit in Oregon is challenging closed primaries and forced party membership, sparking a broader national debate about independent voter rights and public elections.
After two Charter Revision Commissions, five op-eds in one week, and a new poll blowing up the "donor scheme" narrative, independent voters are done waiting to be invited into the conversation.
After lawmakers refused to close the state’s primaries, Republican leaders in another state turned to federal court—joining a broader campaign to exclude independent voters from taxpayer-funded elections.
As America celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, millions of independent voters are raising their voices to declare that the promise of 1776 belongs to every citizen.
In 2024, D.C. voters overwhelmingly approved ballot initiative 83 to open the city’s taxpayer-funded primary elections, with 73% of voters voting yes. But New York independent voters remained locked out in their state despite funding the elections.
This growing shift raises a fundamental question: Can a system designed by partisans for partisans remain legitimate when the country is going independent?
1.2 million independent voters in New York City are shut out of primary elections, and in a very blue city like NYC, the primaries are the ONLY elections that matter.
Jeremy Gruber
