It's Official: New Mexico Has Opened Its Primaries to Independent Voters

I voted stickers on top of a black background.
Photo by visuals on Unsplash.
Shawn GriffithsShawn Griffiths
Published: 08 Apr, 2025
1 min read

SANTA FE, N.M. - As of Monday, New Mexico has officially moved away from closed partisan primaries and has adopted semi-open primaries that allow more than 330,000 independent voters to participate in critical taxpayer-funded elections after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed reform into law.

SB 16 was approved by the New Mexico Legislature at the end of the 2025 legislative session. The bill requires registered party members to vote in their respective party's primary, but voters registered outside a political party can pick the party ballot of their choice.

Hence why it is referred to as a semi-open system.

"Opening primary elections by allowing voters registered as independent or unaffiliated to participate in taxpayer-funded elections improves voting fairness and, in turn, democracy,” said State Sen. Majority Leader Peter Wirth.

The governor also voiced her support of the bill ahead of signing it into law. She said New Mexico has not been able to effectively govern and in order to do so the state needed policymakers who were willing to put in the work for voters.

She said open primaries will "give New Mexicans more opportunity" and added that she believed in the policy. 

You Might Also Like

Nevada Dems Block Independent Redistricting from Going before Voters – Again!
Nevada Dems Block Independent Redistricting from Going before Voters – Again!
With deep frustration, Vote Nevada PAC announced it is withdrawing its ballot initiative to create an independent redistricting commission -- a proposal meant to bring openness, accountability, and fairness to how Nevada’s political maps are drawn....
03 Oct, 2025
-
5 min read
court gavel.
Virtual Discussion: The Fight for Equal Independent Voting Rights Makes it to SCOTUS
Every major voting rights movement in U.S. history – whether successful or not – has intertwined with landmark litigation. This was the case for women’s suffrage. It was the case for civil rights. And it is the case in the ongoing effort to protect the right of all voters to have equal participation in taxpayer-funded elections – something millions of independent voters are denied across the U.S....
29 Sep, 2025
-
2 min read
Supreme Court building
SCOTUS Considers Challenge to Closed Primaries -- Here's Why It Is Such a Big Deal
In a dramatic step forward for litigation challenging closed primaries, the U.S. Supreme Court has indicated they are going to conference to discuss whether to grant a writ of certiorari to Polelle v. Florida Secretary of State; a case challenging Florida's closed primaries that Open Primaries has supported since its inception....
26 Sep, 2025
-
2 min read
Proposition 50 voter guide
California Prop 50: Partisan Power Play or Necessary Counterpunch?
November 4 marks a special election for what has become the most controversial ballot measure in California in recent memory: Proposition 50, which would circumvent congressional districts drawn by the state’s independent redistricting commission for a legislative-drawn map....
01 Oct, 2025
-
9 min read
court gavel.
Virtual Discussion: The Fight for Equal Independent Voting Rights Makes it to SCOTUS
Every major voting rights movement in U.S. history – whether successful or not – has intertwined with landmark litigation. This was the case for women’s suffrage. It was the case for civil rights. And it is the case in the ongoing effort to protect the right of all voters to have equal participation in taxpayer-funded elections – something millions of independent voters are denied across the U.S....
29 Sep, 2025
-
2 min read
Supreme Court building
SCOTUS Considers Challenge to Closed Primaries -- Here's Why It Is Such a Big Deal
In a dramatic step forward for litigation challenging closed primaries, the U.S. Supreme Court has indicated they are going to conference to discuss whether to grant a writ of certiorari to Polelle v. Florida Secretary of State; a case challenging Florida's closed primaries that Open Primaries has supported since its inception....
26 Sep, 2025
-
2 min read