The effort to repeal California’s Top Two primary would erase the constitutional guarantee that “all voters may vote,” sidelining more than 6 million independents as reformers push for a Top Four or Top Five alternative.
From closed primaries and gerrymandered districts to ballot-access barriers and debate rules, the two-party system limits voter choice long before Election Day.
In wake of Graham Platner's exit in Maine, former DNC Chair Jaime Harrison and Paul Rieckhoff get in a heated debate over the future of the Democratic Party, which Rieckhoff argues is run by a generation of "establishment leaders and grifters."
On Meet the Press, Open Primaries President John Opdycke explained that the country's political extremes are thriving because party primaries reward small ideological electorates while treating independent voters like outsiders.
Luckily, there are organizations out there who are endorsing independent-minded candidates as well as candidates who support reforms key to unlocking independent political power.
From ballot access and open primaries to independent candidates and ranked choice voting, these groups are shaping the next phase of the voter-first reform movement.
A California court’s ranked choice voting remedy is about Latino representation. But it also reflects a larger reality: election systems built around narrow political coalitions routinely leave independent voters outside the room.
Chad, Ethan, and Cara sit down with political strategist Mike Madrid, author of The Latino Century, to unpack why Latino voters have become the fastest-growing bloc of independent voters in America.
Is this an effort to minimize the independent vote? It sure feels like it. It is already very difficult for independents to vote in the primary—this is just further muddying the waters.
This growing shift raises a fundamental question: Can a system designed by partisans for partisans remain legitimate when the country is going independent?
Shawn Griffiths
IVN Editorial Board
Righteous Media
Matt Shinners
Dan Schnur
Independent Voter Podcast
Sherry Harrison
Jeremy Gruber