Shawn Griffiths
While all eyes are on the speakers vote Friday, a bipartisan coalition of US lawmakers plan to re-introduce legislation that would represent the largest expansion of voting rights in modern US history.
Right now, approximately 24 million independent voters are barred from participating in taxpayer-funded primary elections, which end up deciding the outcome of about 90% of US House races.
All of this would change with the Let America Vote Act, originally introduced in July 2024.
“Our goal and aspiration should be for every single American citizen to have the right and ability and access to vote in every single taxpayer-funded election," said US Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (Penn.), one of the bill's co-sponsors.
Fitzpatrick will re-introduce the bill along with fellow Republican Andrew Garbarino (NY) and Democratic Reps. Jared Golden (Maine) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.)
The bill requires states to permit registered unaffiliated/independent voters to vote in all primary elections for federal offices that are paid for by taxpayers, including US House and Senate.
Further, it stipulates that federal funds will be withheld from states that don't comply while it provides additional funds to the ones that transition to at least a semi-open primary system.
LEARN MORE: How Do Primary Elections Work? An Overview and Legal Analysis
The bill is founded on the fundamental principle that if voters pay for an election, they should have the right to vote in it.
“Participating in our democracy is a central right of citizens, and voters unaffiliated with any political party deserve to have their voices heard throughout the entire political process," Golden said.
An August poll from Citizen Data found that the effort to open primaries has support across the political spectrum, including 72% of respondents who said they supported the Let America Vote Act.
This represents healthy majorities of Republicans, Democrats, and -- of course -- independent voters, who would benefit greatly from the legislation.
According to the Unite America Institute, which published regular reports on what it has dubbed the "Primary Problem" last year, 87% of 2024 US House races were uncompetitive in the general election.
This means only 7% of US voters decided the incoming makeup of Congress.
"Democrats and Republicans spend billions each presidential election courting independent voters, who they know decide competitive races," said Nick Troiano, executive director of Unite America.
"But once the general election is over, both parties ignore and even actively exclude them — despite the fact that they now make up a majority of the country."
He added that "Congress has the opportunity to right this wrong by passing the Let America Vote Act."
Along with the Let America Vote Act, Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Jared Golden have also sponsored a resolution that calls for a bipartisan task force to consider ways to reform America's winner-takes-all election system.