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A former member of Congress and two national reform groups have filed letters with the California Supreme Court supporting the Independent Voter Project’s (IVP) lawsuit that challenges the state’s cumbersome and confusing semi-closed presidential primary rules. Former US Rep. Tom Campbell, Open Primaries, and FairVote have asked the state's high court to give IVP -- and the individual plaintiffs signed onto the lawsuit -- a chance to lay out the evidence that the system unfairly burdens the vot

The Independent Voter Project has filed a petition with the California Supreme Court to hear its lawsuit challenging the state’s semi-closed presidential primary, which the group asserts has caused widespread voter confusion and suppressed the votes of millions of Californians. The lawsuit, which was originally filed in 2019 by IVP and 7 individual plaintiffs, cites 6 distinct violations to state and federal voting rights laws the state commits each presidential election cycle by using semi-clo

One of the nation’s most contentious battleground states has an opportunity to open its primaries to 1.2 million voters registered independent. A new bill in Pennsylvania recognizes that these citizens have a right to vote in the most important stage of the electoral process. Pennsylvania Senate Bill 400 amends the state’s electoral code to say that “[u]enrolled electors shall be permitted to vote in primary elections” in accordance with how primaries are structured by law. “Unenrolled electors

A new report from the McKinley Research Group (MRG) finds that Alaskans are generally satisfied with their new nonpartisan voting system. Not only is it simple, but they also have more confidence in their choices and that their votes matter more than in previous years. In 2020, a majority of Alaskan voters approved a complete overhaul to how the state elects its public officials. They changed the closed primary system to a nonpartisan top-4 primary, in which all voters and candidates (regardles

The New York Libertarian (LPNY) and Green Parties (GPNY) have petitioned the US Supreme Court to hear their case challenging state election rules designed by the major parties to knock third parties off the ballot. The scheme was so successful that every third party that doesn't nominate major party candidates lost their ballot access status statewide. Toward the end of 2019, Governor Andrew Cuomo and state officials expanded the authority of a public campaign financing commission to rewrite el

For a state that claims to lead the nation in voter rights, California’s presidential primary rules are a study in hypocrisy. The California Constitution requires that all elections for partisan office be conducted in open nonpartisan primaries with the top two vote getters advancing to the general election. California’s presidential primary rules, however, are different. This is because, unlike races for governor, the legislature, and Congress, presidential primary voters are not selecting act

Voters added or expanded the use of ranked choice voting (RCV) in two US cities in the same week this month:  Redondo Beach, California, and Burlington, Vermont. An overwhelming majority of Redondo Beach citizens voted to add their city to the 6 California cities already using RCV (Albany, Berkeley, Oakland, Palm Desert, San Francisco, and San Leandro) and Eureka, which will use RCV for the first time in 2024. “Instead of low-turnout, toxic, and unrepresentative runoffs, RCV will give voters m

The lawsuit was originally filed in July 2019 by the Independent Voter Project (IVP) and 6 individual plaintiffs from across the political spectrum to prevent voter confusion in the 2020 primary...

Notable Republican and Democratic leaders in Rhode Island have come together to change how the state conducts its primary elections. The effort, called the People’s Primary, seeks to bring more competition and participation in state elections. “It has become obvious over the years that our primary elections are the most important in defining how we will be governed. The results over the last decade have indicated very serious problems,” said Hassenfeld Center for Leadership Founder Gary Sasse,

Arkansas State Senator Clarke Tucker (Little Rock) has introduced a state constitutional amendment that would implement a nonpartisan top-two primary system in Arkansas similar to the systems in place in California, Washington, and Alaska. SJR 4 would replace a primary system that divides voters between a Republican and Democratic primary ballot with primaries in which all voters and candidates, regardless of party, participate on a single ballot. The top two vote-getters move on the general el