Open Primaries continued its ongoing virtual discussion series Tuesday with a conversation on independent voters, who they are, and why we have a system that actively suppresses their voices at every level of elections and government.
Independent Voters
Pennsylvania held its primary elections Tuesday, which effectively acted as the general election in most cases. However, statewide, over a million voters had to sit on the sidelines because of the state's closed primary rules.
An initiative that would open the taxpayer-funded electoral process in Idaho to all voters has more than 84,000 signatures, according to the group spearheading the initiative, Idahoans for Open Primaries.
Efforts to reform Pennsylvania's closed partisan primary system continue with groups like Ballot PA urging state lawmakers to give independent voters equal voting rights in the state's taxpayer-funded elections process.
On April 1, 2014, IVN was the first to cover a campaign that warned California independent voters not to be fooled when they registered to vote. But today, hundreds of thousands of voters are still registered with the American Independent Party by mistake.
The lawsuit was filed by the DC Democratic Party in August not long after the DC Board of Elections unanimously approved the reform initiative, now known as Initiative 83, to appear on the 2024 ballot.
The independent reform movement has lost a champion, but his work is sure to live on. Harry Kresky, a renowned election law and civil rights attorney, author, poet, and activist passed away on March 11 at the age of 79.
“Can we do it
Without knowing how?
Mounting research continues to show the real truth behind independent voter suppression in several states across the US.
Open Primaries, in partnership with Unite America, announced the launch of LetUsVote Wednesday, a nationwide initiative that aims to mobilize and empower independent voters, who make up the largest voting bloc in the US but are treated like second-class voters.