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.
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. It’s also the second state, just this year, to open its primaries to independent voters-after the Maine legislature voted in large bipartisan numbers to adopt primary reform in June. Nevada requires that constitutional amendments pass twice in order to be enacted.
There are 652,000 registered independents in Nevada. They are the second largest and fastest-growing 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 is pursuing legislation to bring Top Four (nonpartisan primaries + ranked choice voting in the general election to New Mexicans this year.
OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma United for Progress, Let’s Fix This OK and Oklahoma Academy are pursuing a public education campaign on primary reform as they build towards a ballot initiative for open primaries.
OREGON
The All Oregon Votes team collected the initial slate of signatures needed for the “Free and Equal Elections” initiative, a groundbreaking proposed constitutional amendment calling for all voters to be free to vote in every publicly funded election. They delivered their signatures to the Oregon State Elections Division for certification.
The ballot title certification process will begin soon–since the ballot language was already vetted last year by the courts the All Oregon Votes team should be on track to build towards an official 2024 campaign. Independents are the largest bloc of voters in the state–with over 1 million people opting out of the two major parties–and this is an exciting campaign to pay attention to.
PENNSYLVANIA
Open Primaries 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.
South Dakota
South Dakota Open Primaries have filed a proposed constitutional amendment with the South Dakota Legislative Research Council. This is the first step towards placing an open primaries initiative on the November 2024 ballot.
Current law prevents large numbers of South Dakota voters who do not join a political party from participating in the primary process. The proposed ballot initiative would establish a top-two open primary system.
To qualify for the November 2024 ballot, the initiative sponsors must collect valid signatures from 35,017 registered South Dakota voters and submit the petitions to the state by November 5, 2023.
WISCONSIN
Democracy Found is pursuing legislation to bring Final Five Voting (nonpartisan primaries + ranked choice voting in the general election) to Wisconsin this year.
