OPEN-PRIMARIES

SMERCONISH: Primary Elections are Under Attack (John Opdcyke)

The Hill: We must radically change election administration to preserve American democracy

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Closed primaries could be coming to Missouri a lot quicker than you think

Divided We Fall: Can Open Primaries Serve the Many, Instead of Just the Few? (OP Senior VP Jeremy Gruber)

Our democracy is increasingly struggling to realize this noble aspiration captured in Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. There are several root causes, but one is uniquely American among world democracies. Our systems of elections are a partisan construct where incentives to seek advantage can often conflict with fundamental democratic principles.

The Fulcrum: Broad but invisible voter suppression is taking place in Tennessee (John Opdycke & Gabe Hart)

Modern voter suppression is typically understood as Jim Crow-adjacent laws designed to surgically limit the ability of people of color to cast a ballot in November: voter registration purges, restrictions on drop-off sites and early voting, voter ID laws, etc. Civil rights organizations have – properly – devoted huge time and resources to defeating these practices.

Newsweek: One Simple Change to the Primaries Could Make Our Politicians Better (Jeremy Gruber, Open Primaries Senior VP)

An analysis of the recent Georgia primary by The Associated Press made headlines when it found 37,000 formerly Democratic voters voted in the Republican primary for Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

The Fulcrum: Independent voters want to be heard. Is anybody listening? (John Opdycke & David Thornburgh)

The American electorate is more “anti-party” than at any time since Adams and Jefferson inaugurated America’s first major political feud. According to Gallup, independents now comprise 42 percent of all voters. In states that require party registration, 49 percent of young voters choose “no party affiliation” when they register. One in two veterans identifies as a political independent.

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