A coalition of California Democrats wants to put independent voters’ right to participate in publicly funded elections into the state Constitution — but getting it before voters will require Republican support.
Independent voters are now the largest political bloc in America, but closed primaries and two-party ballots still leave millions with nowhere else to go.
Latino voters with no party preference are poised to play an outsized role in California’s 2026 elections — but both parties may be failing to reach the voters who could decide them.
Despite pressure from within his own party, Robert Howden says Texas will defend its open primary system — and that any effort to close it belongs in the Legislature, not the courts.
After a legislative effort to require party registration stalled, the Alabama GOP made closing its primaries an official party priority—even as some Republican lawmakers warn it would shut out too many independent voters.
Political insiders from both parties largely reject the claim that independent voters would sabotage primaries if allowed to participate, and some say open primaries produce stronger candidates.
Closed primaries do not protect party purity—they force independent voters to register with parties they do not believe in just to have a meaningful voice.
Governor Pritzker frames the Democratic Party divide as "Team Cave" versus "Team Fight," but sidesteps questions about whether this commitment extends to independent voters locked out of primary elections.
Arizona lets independent voters participate in its taxpayer-funded primaries—but only after they choose a party ballot, accept limited candidate options, and rely on party leaders to keep the door open.
After two Charter Revision Commissions, five op-eds in one week, and a new poll blowing up the "donor scheme" narrative, independent voters are done waiting to be invited into the conversation.
Shawn Griffiths
Jeremy Gruber
Russell Dutton
Alex Segura, Latino News Network
Jennifer Esteban
