Will Congress Grant Independent Voters Full Voting Rights in 2025?

voted
Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash
Shawn GriffithsShawn Griffiths
Published: 03 Jan, 2025
2 min read

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.  

IVP Donate

“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."

Let Us Vote : Sign Now!

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. 

In this article

You Might Also Like

Gerrymandering, Primaries, and Election History: How It Really Works
Gerrymandering, Primaries, and Election History: How It Really Works
The nation’s attention is currently on the ongoing redistricting fight between Republicans and Democrats. The conversation is being framed: “Donald Trump is doing this.” “Gavin Newsom is doing that.” However, what voters are missing is the context of how we got here....
08 Aug, 2025
-
1 min read
Cartoon hand placing a ballot into a box that says primary on it with a GOP elephant and Democrat donkey in the background.
Hate Gerrymandering? Let’s Start Voting in Primaries
Responding to pressure from President Trump, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the Republican-controlled legislature are moving forward with a plan to redraw their district lines in advance of the 2026 midterms. Democrats are contemplating how to fight back and blunt any gains the GOP makes in Texas by conducting their own gerrymanders in New York, Illinois, and California.  ...
07 Aug, 2025
-
4 min read
state of Louisiana with a closed stamp over it.
Louisiana’s New Voting System: Closed, Confusing, and Costly
Louisiana is making the switch to closed partisan primaries for some elections in 2026, using a system that will no doubt confuse many of the state’s registered No Party voters, who are about to add approximately 151,000 people to their numbers. ...
30 Jul, 2025
-
6 min read
National Reform Organizations Condemn Texas and California Over Gerrymandering
National Reform Organizations Condemn Texas and California Over Gerrymandering
The United States has passed the point of no return in the unprecedented mid-cycle redistricting fight between Texas and California, which threatens to expand to other states like Republican-controlled Florida and Democratic-controlled New York....
25 Aug, 2025
-
6 min read
Gerrymandering Wars Escalate Beyond Texas and California: A National Race to the Bottom?
Gerrymandering Wars Escalate Beyond Texas and California: A National Race to the Bottom?
Republicans currently hold a narrow 219 to 212 edge over Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, with four vacancies: three from Democratic members who have died and one from a Republican who has resigned. This is the smallest House majority held by either party in nearly a century. The razor-thin margin means the stakes in the 2026 midterms could not be higher. With so few competitive seats left nationwide, both parties are turning to mid-decade redistricting as a way to secure advantages....
27 Aug, 2025
-
10 min read
Hand in ballot that says independent on it.
Why 1.2 Million California Independents Are The Biggest Wild Card in American Politics Today
The fate of Proposition 50, California’s proposed redistricting measure, may come down to voters who have declined to join one of the two major political parties....
22 Aug, 2025
-
5 min read