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Open Primaries, in partnership with Unite America, announced the launch of LetUsVote Wednesday, a nationwide initiative that aims to mobilize and empower independent voters, who make up the largest voting bloc in the US but are treated like second-class voters.

Photo Credit: Getty Images / Unsplash The last couple of years have seen an increase in states looking to change their primary election laws. In some cases, party leaders are trying to increase their power over electoral outcomes, while nonpartisan reformers attempt to offer other states better elections. The focus on primaries has become so prominent that the National Conference of State Legislatures recently took notice of it in a report in which authors Adam Kuckuk and Ben Williams acknowle

Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster does not support calls from within his party to close primary elections to registered party members only. He has long pushed back against claims that non-party members will infiltrate the primaries to manipulate outcomes.

The election day colloquially referred to as Super Tuesday used to mean something. It's an election date traditionally held in early March and is known for hosting the most presidential preference elections on a single day each election cycle. In 2024, Super Tuesday falls on March 5. In most cases, states that will hold presidential preference contests on this date are in the middle of early voting, including the nation's most populous state: California. In total, 16 states will hold president

In 2010, California voters took the first step in empowering every California voter by abolishing party-controlled closed partisan primaries in favor of open nonpartisan primaries that advance the top two vote-getters to the November election. 

1. You See the Legitimacy of Opposing Views Voters have become accustomed to the simple red-versus-blue, liberal-versus-conservative goal posts that have been set up by the drivers of American politics. Hyper-polarization has reached such extremes that no matter the position, the "other side" is always wrong, evil, and brainwashed. Being independent is a mindset. It does not mean a person lacks ideology or that they have to be "neutral" or "moderate." It means being grown up enough to think cr

Over the weekend, Senate negotiators released final language of a bill that would address the growing crisis at America’s southern border while also providing aid to Ukraine and Israel. This would be great news, if House Speaker Mike Johnson hadn’t announced the bill was dead on arrival before the b

California’s ‘top-two’ nonpartisan primary creates election dynamics that are much different than you see in most states because, instead of candidates vying for the hearts and minds of their party-base -- all voters, including independent voters, can cast their vote for any candidate they choose. That means, this March, some Democratic candidates will need votes from independent and Republican voters to advance to the general election in November. Candidates talking to all voters may generall

Photo by Phillip Goldsberry on Unsplash In the wake of the New Hampshire primaries, much of the discussion in the national press is about the race being a done deal. It doesn't matter who is still in, it's Trump versus Biden again -- something most Americans didn't want. Going into New Hampshire, IVN covered the DNC's direct message to voters that their votes don't matter. Yet, both parties say this to every voter in the country when they decide an election is essentially over after two states

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in The Fulcrum, and has been republished on IVN with permission from the publisher. John E Palmer is chairman of Rank the Vote and a member of the board of the National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers. Photo Credit: sarowen / Flickr Beyond being kidney-punched in the Capitol or censured by colleagues, the biggest threat a compromise-minded member of Congress faces these days comes from a primary election challenge. Being “primaried” for displ