Shawn Griffiths
AUSTIN, Texas - A veteran-led election reform group is asking a federal court to reject an effort by the Republican Party of Texas to close the state’s primary elections. It's a move that would lock out millions of independent voters in one of the most politically consequential states in the US.
Veterans for All Voters (VAV) filed its request on May 21 with the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas to submit an amicus brief in Republican Party of Texas, et al. v. State of Texas, et al. The group sides with Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson’s defense of state law.
Since Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton chose to join the Republican Party's lawsuit, Nelson was forced to hire private counsel against her own party.
Shawn Griffiths
Texas’s primary system allows all voters to choose between a Republican or Democratic primary ballot. They do not register by party, but their voter file is marked with the party they choose for the remainder of the election cycle.
This means, under the law, no registered voter is denied the right to vote in primary elections.
The lawsuit brought by the Texas GOP poses a fundamental question: Can a private political party use a publicly funded, state-administered election process while excluding voters who help pay for it?
While the GOP says yes, Veterans for All Voters says the answer should be no.
“The people of Texas should decide which candidates are viable—not party bosses, national power brokers, or the loudest voices in the room,” said the group’s CEO, Alberto Ramos.
“Closing publicly funded primaries would be a step in the wrong direction. Texas should keep faith with veterans and everyday Texans who have participated under these rules for decades.”
The Republican Party filed its lawsuit in September 2025, arguing that the state’s open primary system violates its First Amendment associational rights by allowing non-Republicans to participate in Republican nomination contests.
The party said in its complaint that it wanted primaries limited to voters registered with the party, even though Texas does not currently have party registration.
In fact, changing the state’s primary system would require either a new voter registration structure or a system in which parties decide for themselves who is “Republican enough” or “Democratic enough” to participate.
The case took an unusual turn when Paxton elected not to defend state law. Instead, he sided with the GOP and asked the court to strike down parts of the Texas Election Code that prevent the party from closing its primaries.
To clarify, the job of a state attorney general is to defend the state and its laws in court. However, Paxton has established a reputation of picking and choosing which laws he will defend.
This left Nelson defending the state’s current primary system. She opposed the GOP’s requested consent judgment, warning that a court-ordered change to the primary rules could create confusion and disrupt election administration.
In its request to the court, Veterans for All Voters argues that switching to a system that forces voters to register or affiliate with a party to vote would not only weaken voter rights, but choice and public accountability as well.
The group also frames the issue through the lens of Texas veterans. The state has the largest veteran population in the country – totaling 1.5 million. VAV says more than 700,000 of these veterans are independent voters.
This group will be harmed if the Texas closes its primaries.
“I served with people from every political background, and none of us had to check a party card before defending our nation,” said Scott Shepherd, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran from Austin.
“If I pay for an election with my tax dollars, I should not be locked out of the public elections that matter most because I don’t belong to a private political party, regardless of which party dominates.”
That message lands in a state where primary elections are more decisive than general elections. In heavily Republican or heavily Democratic districts, the winner of the dominant party’s primary is all but guaranteed to be elected.
In other words, a closed primary locks independents out of the only contest that truly matters.
The same concern extends beyond congressional and statewide elections. Primaries shape courthouse races, county offices, school boards, city councils, and other local contests that directly affect the individual voter.
“Texas leaders should be asking a simple question: do we want candidates competing for voters, or competing for permission from political insiders?” said Ramos.
For independent voters, the question is not whether political parties have rights. They do. The question is whether those rights allow parties to take over a taxpayer-funded election process and exclude voters who do not want to join a party.
Veterans for All Voters says the court should reject that idea and preserve a system that keeps primary elections open to the voters who fund them, live under their consequences, and have participated under Texas law for decades.
Read VAV's full request to the court:
