The Florida Democratic Party has effectively canceled its 2024 presidential primary after it only submitted President Joe Biden's name to the secretary of state for the party's ballot. Under state law, an uncontested race does not appear on the ballot and therefore denies voters an opportunity to be heard. 

Despite claims from the party of "no conspiracy," the move has angered candidates who wanted to challenge Biden's incumbency.

In an opinion piece published on Roll Call, David Winston, president of The Winston Group, asked one of the most important questions when considering the state of US elections ahead of another presidential nomination cycle.

He writes:

Editor's' Note: This article originally published on The Fulcrum by the Fulcrum's staff. It has been republished on IVN with permission from the publisher. 

 

On November 16 following Election Day, U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Angus King (I-Maine) reintroduced the Voter Choice Act to support adoption of a ranked choice voting (RCV) model for elections, also known as an “instant runoff.”

The Independent Voter Project (IVP) has updated its interactive primary map with the voter registration numbers for the 2024 cycle, including a breakdown of voter registration by political party in each state. 

Next year, Maine will hold its first open primary election. Every Maine voter — including the 32 percent registered as unaffiliated — will be able to vote. It’s a critical step forward.  

In the latest virtual discussion hosted by Open Primaries, young citizens in Pennsylvania talked about their commitment to giving all voters, regardless of party affiliation or lack thereof, an equal and meaningful say in the election process.

Ranked choice voting (RCV) had another momentous election cycle in 2023. It was protected and expanded in some cities, it was used for the first time in places like Boulder, Colorado, and it was adopted by voters in 3 Michigan cities.

Here's the thing, voters in East Lansing, Kalamazoo, and Royal Oak will have to wait to use the alternative voting method because of how Michigan election law is written. There is no explicit prohibition on RCV, but state officials say the law is written in such a way that denies implementation.

Editor's Note: This op-ed originally appeared in The Fulcrum and has been republished in its entirety on IVN with permission from the publisher. The author, John Opdycke, is Founder and President of Open Primaries. 

 

 

Ranked choice voting (RCV) continues to build on its national momentum. It was not only adopted in new cities on Election Day 2023, but it was protected by voters in other places and used in 11 cities across 6 states.

RCV gives voters the option to rank candidates on the ballot in order of preference (1st choice, 2nd choice, 3rd choice, etc.) The first-choice selections are tallied. If no candidate has a majority, an automatic runoff is conducted that eliminates the last place candidate and applies their voters' next selection to the results.

Maine voters overwhelmingly approved Question 2 on Tuesday, a ballot measure that prohibits direct and indirect electioneering from foreign governments and foreign government-owned entities in candidate and ballot measure elections.

With 45% of precincts reporting in, 86% of voters said 'Yes' to Question 2.