Closed Primaries: The Biggest Voter Suppression Mechanism in Use Today

people
Photo by Hal Gatewood on Unsplash
Created: 22 Oct, 2024
1 min read

Photo by Hal Gatewood on Unsplash

 

The nonpartisan reform group Open Primaries released a new video that highlights the current state of a growing movement to change the way critical taxpayer-funded primary elections are conducted in the US.

Specifically, reform them to respect the rights all voters have to an equal and meaningful voice in the process.

The video premiered Monday evening during the first-ever Virtual Rally for Open Primaries, which brought hundreds of voters together to show their support for primary reform initiatives on the 2024 ballot. 

Voters in 6 states and the District of Columbia will vote on proposals that end party primaries in favor of nonpartisan systems that grant access to all voters and candidates, regardless of party.

Or, in the case of DC, it opens partisan primaries to the city's 73,000+ independent voters. 

But the fight for fairer primaries doesn't end at the ballot box. Pennsylvania reformers, for example, have made significant inroads in the state's legislature, and the movement is growing in states like Oklahoma, Florida, and New York.

More Choice for San Diego

Meanwhile, reform advocates are working to protect open primaries in states like Alaska, where party bosses and special interest groups are trying to repeal nonpartisan election reform approved by voters in 2020. 

"Closed party processes are distorting everyone's political incentives and pushing our leaders toward more extreme points of view than most Americans actually believe," says former presidential candidate and Forward Party Founder Andrew Yang.

Check out more on the open primaries movement in the video above.

Related articles

voters at the ballot box.
Advocates Push for Reform to Stop Partisan Manipulation of Ballot Measures
An Election Reformers Network (ERN) report covering a 13-year period has found that state lawmakers ...
04 Feb, 2025
-
3 min read
i voted stickers
Giving Voters a Say: Maryland Bill Takes Aim at Representation by Appointment
A March hearing has been set in the Maryland House of Delegates for a bill that requires special ele...
14 Jan, 2025
-
2 min read
Image of voters at a polling location.
Bill Filed to Close Indiana's Critical Primary Elections
Photo by  Indiana lawmakers will consider a bill filed in the state's House of Representatives that ...
07 Jan, 2025
-
2 min read

Latest articles

Crowd of people with an American flag in the center.
'It's The Economy, Stupid': Poll Spotlights Biggest Area of Common Ground among Voters
Over the last week, The Independent Center released the second and third installments to its 2025 State of the Union Poll, one of which compared and contrasted the views of independent voters and Republicans and the other compared independents and Democrats....
05 Feb, 2025
-
3 min read
voters at the ballot box.
Advocates Push for Reform to Stop Partisan Manipulation of Ballot Measures
An Election Reformers Network (ERN) report covering a 13-year period has found that state lawmakers and elected officials are increasingly manipulating the ballot initiative process to block or impede citizen-led efforts. ...
04 Feb, 2025
-
3 min read
Go vote posters.
Virginia Senate Advances Bill to Expand Ranked Choice Voting in Local Elections
The Virginia Senate approved a bill Monday that would expand the authority of local governments to conduct elections using ranked choice voting (RCV). The bill (SB1009) grants cities, counties, and towns the ability to implement RCV for all elections....
04 Feb, 2025
-
2 min read