Closed Primaries: The Biggest Voter Suppression Mechanism in Use Today

Closed Primaries: The Biggest Voter Suppression Mechanism in Use Today
Photo by Hal Gatewood on Unsplash
Published: 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.

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.

IVP Donate

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

You Might Also Like

The Federal Voter ID Bill Is Designed to Fail. Here's Why
The Federal Voter ID Bill Is Designed to Fail. Here's Why
Most Americans support voter ID, so why is this fight so explosive? It’s simple: the two-party system keeps turning a broadly popular reform into a partisan weapon. Instead of solving the issue, both sides use it to energize their base and deepen distrust....
12 Mar, 2026
-
3 min read
Paul Rieckhoff Tells Stephen Colbert: Voters Shouldn't Have to Pick a Party to Matter
Paul Rieckhoff Tells Stephen Colbert: Voters Shouldn't Have to Pick a Party to Matter
Paul Rieckhoff wears many hats. He is a veteran of the Iraq War, founded Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, national security analyst, author, producer, podcaster, and founder of Independent Veterans of America....
11 Mar, 2026
-
2 min read
Did New Petition Rules Kill Oklahoma’s Open Primaries Initiative?
Did New Petition Rules Kill Oklahoma’s Open Primaries Initiative?
Last week, the Oklahoma campaign to put a nonpartisan all-voter and all-candidate nonpartisan primary initiative on the ballot was informed that it did not collect enough signatures to be certified. This means state voters won’t get a say on the matter in 2026....
10 Mar, 2026
-
5 min read
How James Talarico Won Over Independents Amid Texas Primary Chaos
How James Talarico Won Over Independents Amid Texas Primary Chaos
James Talarico wins Texas’ Democratic Senate primary as campaigns point to unusually high independent participation in the state’s open primary system. Then Dallas County’s last-minute switch back to precinct-only voting sparks confusion, long lines, and a legal fight over ballots cast after 7 p.m....
05 Mar, 2026
-
3 min read
Don’t Kill Top Two. Upgrade It: A Smarter Way to Elect California’s Governor
Don’t Kill Top Two. Upgrade It: A Smarter Way to Elect California’s Governor
The answer to today’s crowded field is not retreat. It is modernization. Instead of empowering party gatekeepers, we can empower voters with more choice, less vote splitting, and majority-supported outcomes....
03 Mar, 2026
-
4 min read
No Referee in the Midterms? Trump’s FEC Nominations Come After 10 Months of Zero Federal Oversight
No Referee in the Midterms? Trump’s FEC Nominations Come After 10 Months of Zero Federal Oversight
As February wrapped up, it was reported that President Donald Trump had nominated two Republicans for the Federal Elections Commission after 10 months of the agency being unable to perform its basic functions....
02 Mar, 2026
-
9 min read