Open Primaries

The Denver Post Editorial Board has issued an endorsement on Proposition 131 in Colorado, an initiative that calls for a nonpartisan top 4 open primary with ranked choice voting. They ask voters to vote "No," but not because they have doubts about the reform.

Early voting is set to kick off in Arizona this week, and the state Supreme Court has put to bed a legal battle over Prop 140 that has dragged on well past the printing of ballots. The high court ruled that votes for Prop 140 will count. 

The 2024 election cycle is already a historic year for election reform. Six states plus the District of Columbia have measures on the November 5 ballot that, if approved by voters, will open taxpayer-funded primary elections to voters outside the Republican and Democratic Parties.

Idaho Republican lawmakers have indicated that because they don't like election reforms in Proposition 1, they will consider repealing or amending the proposal if voters approve it in November. 

In a new video posted by the nonpartisan primary reform group Open Primaries, Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt discusses his support for an open primary system in which all candidates have to make their case to all registered voters, regardless of party.

In 2022, a majority of Nevada voters said 'Yes' to a ballot measure that would open up primaries to all voters and candidates and implement ranked choice voting in the general election. The question is: Will they do it again in 2024?

Montana voters have a choice to make: They can keep the state's partisan primary system, which decides most elections in the state before most voters have a say. Or, they can end party primaries and adopt a system that is open to all voters and candidates at the most critical stage of the process. 

Nearly 300,000 independent voters in Idaho have an opportunity to pass a ballot measure that would guarantee them equal access to taxpayer-funded primary elections without having to affiliate with one of the two major political parties.

Arizona voters will have several ballot measures to consider when they receive their November ballot. Among them is Proposition 140, which if passed would end partisan primaries in the state and give independent voters and candidates level footing in the elections process.

South Dakota voters have a choice in the 2024 election: They can keep an election system that is solely controlled by a single political party, or they can reform elections that allow voters to choose any candidate they prefer, regardless of party under Amendment H.