Campaigns for Primary Reform
We’re working with primary reform activists in cities and states across the country to fight for the right of every voter to vote in every public election and to advocate for open, nonpartisan primary election systems.
We’re looking for supporters, activists & spokespeople to join us –if you’re interested in getting involved in your state please send an email to Jeremy Gruber, OP Senior VP at jgruber@openprimaries.org
ACTIVE CAMPAIGNS
Arizona
Save Democracy AZ is a coalition of Arizona citizens working to educate voters on the challenges facing the state of Arizona because of a partisan primary system and explore alternative nonpartisan voting systems that would make elections work better for all citizens.
The group is now proposing that it’s high time Arizona scrap partisan primaries and pass a constitutional amendment that outlaws state-run, taxpayer-funded primaries. This would open up the system to the ⅓ of Arizona voters who don’t identify with either party and are currently shut out of the system.
Florida
Florida Open Primaries–a coalition of local and national activists–is running a campaign to end Florida’s fraudulent write-in loophole campaign. In 1998, Florida voters passed Amendment 11 with 64% support.It declared that if all the candidates for a given office are from the same party, then the primary changes from a partisan closed primary to a general election and all voters can participate. Since enacted, Democratic and Republican operatives have recruited phony write-in candidates for no reason other than to subvert the law and shut out voters. Courts have refused to intervene. It’s one of the most corrupt election practices anywhere in the country; used to disenfranchise over 8 million Democrats, Republicans and independents for the last 20+ years in Florida.
The campaign is pressuring the legislature to close the write-in loophole and is calling on ALL Floridians to join the campaign to fix this fraud and outlaw the write-in loophole. If you’re a Florida voter, join today!
idaho
A coalition has come together in Idaho–Idahoans for Open Primaries– to put a “top four” open primary initiative on the 2024 ballot.
Idaho had open primaries until 2010, when a faction of the Republican Party sued to close the primaries. Politics in the state has become increasingly dogmatic/partisan ever since.
The office of the Idaho Attorney General assigned a ballot title to Idahoans for Open Primaries initiative for nonpartisan primaries and ranked choice voting. The group is challenging the language in court. The Idaho Supreme Court has granted a motion to expedite a hearing on the legal challenge. Stay tuned.
NEVADA
Vote Nevada, Better Voting Nevada and Nevadans for Election Reform got a ballot initiative on the November 2022 ballot to bring Final Five Voting (nonpartisan primaries + ranked choice voting in the general election) to Nevadans.
Nevadans passed Measure 3 52% to 48% despite opposition from both political parties – moves one step closer to joining California, Washington, Nebraska and Alaska as the 5th state in the U.S. to fully empower independents by adopting nonpartisan, open primaries. Nevada requires that constitutional amendments pass twice in order to be enacted.
There are 652,000 registered independents in Nevada. They just became the largest group of voters in the state and are 30% of the electorate. If passed on the second vote in 2024, Measure 3 will allow the state’s independent voters to play an even bigger role in the state’s political future.
NEW MEXICO
New Mexico Open Elections has been pursuing legislation to establish semi-open primaries and let all voters vote in New Mexico. As a result of their efforts, the New Mexico Senate this year passed a semi-open primary elections bill, which allows registered independents and minor party affiliates to participate in primary elections without having to change their voter registration. The legislation passed with a vote of 27-10, with support from both Democrats and Republicans.
The legislation fell just shy of passage in the House, however. NMOE is now planning on going back to the legislature in 2024 with the wind at their backs.
NEW York City
Final Five Voting NYC–a movement fueled by New Yorkers for Competitive Elections have come together to build a grassroots movement to make NYC’s elections more democratic through the adoption of Final Five Voting. The group is led by a growing coalition of local political, community, and business leaders and organizations from all five boroughs and across the political spectrum.
OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma United for Progress is pursuing a public education campaign on primary reform as they build towards a ballot initiative for open primaries. It’s being organized by the indefatigable Margaret Kobos-who has built a statewide network to repeal closed primaries in Oklahoma. Mayor GT Bynum of Tulsa , State Labor Commissioner Leslie Osborne, former State Senator AJ Griffen and Open Primaries SVP Jeremy Gruber recently led a citywide town hall in Oklahoma City that brought out over 150 Oklahomans of all political stripes to call for change
The broad support they are building is cutting across traditional political boundaries and they hope to have a statewide ballot initiative ready for 2026.
OREGON
All Oregon Votes has officially launched their petition drive to amend Oregon’s constitution to confer the right of all voters to vote and all qualified candidates to compete in publicly funded, publicly administered elections, without regard to their party affiliation or non-affiliation.
If you’re a registered Oregon voter, please help the campaign by signing the petition for the Oregon Voting Rights Amendment state ballot measure. You can also print-out the petition and take a few minutes to ask 5 fellow voters to put their signature down.
PENNSYLVANIA
Ballot PA has launched a legislative campaign (in both the Senate and the House) to allow independent voters in the state the right to vote in Republican and Democratic primary elections. Both pieces of legislation aim to address the voter suppression currently happening in the state and enfranchise the 1.2 million Pennsylvanians currently locked out of the process.
Last session the legislation passed favorably through the Senate, but failed to clear the House. Most recently, the PA House heard testimony from supporters and opponents as momentum is growing across the state to open the primaries to unaffiliated and independent Pennsylvanians.
South Dakota
South Dakota Open Primaries have filed a proposed constitutional amendment with the South Dakota Legislative Research Council. The proposed ballot initiative would establish a top-two open primary system.
South Dakota Open Primaries’ campaign to put open primaries on the 2024 ballot is charging ahead–the team has already organized 40 volunteers to help collect the 35,000 signatures required ahead of the May 2024 deadline (for a November 2024 ballot referendum).
UTAH
People4Utah are building towards a 2024 campaign launch for a ballot measure effort to repeal closed primaries and adopt top two nonpartisan primaries.
WAshington DC
Make All Votes Count DC’s ballot initiative for RCV & semi-open primaries has been given the greenlight by the DC Board of Elections to be on the 2024 DC ballot for the voters of DC to weigh in on.
And while the Democratic Party in DC is pushing to keep ranked choice voting & open primaries off the ballot (their excuse is that voters aren’t smart enough to adapt to a new system), we’re already seeing new voices join the fight–including most recently the League of Women Voters DC.
WISCONSIN
Democracy Found is pursuing legislation to bring Final Five Voting (nonpartisan primaries + ranked choice voting in the general election) to Wisconsin.
