The late Peter Ackerman, an expert in nonviolent civil resistance and a driving force behind reform efforts like Maine’s “More Voice” initiatives, said that even the best ideas are accepted in stages:

A proposed amendment to the South Dakota Constitution to require a nonpartisan primary system in which all voters and candidates participate on a single ballot has been certified for the November ballot.

Imagine being part of the largest segment of the registered voting population and being denied the right to an equal vote in elections. Well, millions of voters across the US don't have to imagine this because it is a reality for them in every election cycle. 

Open Primaries continued its ongoing virtual discussion series Tuesday with a conversation on independent voters, who they are, and why we have a system that actively suppresses their voices at every level of elections and government.

One week after the Idahoans for Open Primaries coalition submitted roughly 30,000 more signatures than they needed to get a nonpartisan top-four primary system on the ballot, South Dakota Open Primaries met the required number of signatures in their own state to put a top-two system before voters.

An initiative that would ensure equal voting rights for 270,000 independent voters in Idaho is all but certain to qualify for the November ballot. The Idahoans for Open Primaries coalition exceeded 90,000 signatures for its "Final Four" elections initiative days before the May 1 deadline.

Pennsylvania held its primary elections Tuesday, which effectively acted as the general election in most cases. However, statewide, over a million voters had to sit on the sidelines because of the state's closed primary rules.

An initiative that would open the taxpayer-funded electoral process in Idaho to all voters has more than 84,000 signatures, according to the group spearheading the initiative, Idahoans for Open Primaries. 

If there is one day out of the year that many Americans collectively dread it is April 15 -- Tax Day. But for millions of US voters, it is also a reminder that while they help foot the bill for elections, they are denied the right to an equal vote in them.

Efforts to reform Pennsylvania's closed partisan primary system continue with groups like Ballot PA urging state lawmakers to give independent voters equal voting rights in the state's taxpayer-funded elections process.