The Independent View: Open Primaries Says “Let All Voters Vote”

Open Primaries “Let All Voters Vote”, is no longer just a Slogan.

Primary reform is now front and center in the National Debate on how we Reform our Politics, is a Movement.

There’s been a shift within the Reform community and among the American People. The Structure, the Setup, the Rules of Partisan Primary Elections stand in the way of everything:

- They Lock out Voters.

- Convert Differences into Division.

- Cripple Candidates who want to serve their Communities.

- Prevent New Coalitions from forming.

- Serve the needs of Party Insiders, not the American people.

Open Primaries is more than an Organization. They are a Catalyst. They support Local Leaders, who are standing up and saying “It’s time to let all voters vote in every taxpayer funded election!”

They sponsor Research and Scholarship, pass Laws, Build Coalitions and Conversations. They help New Organizations, like Students for Open Primaries, and Veterans for Political Innovation, get on their feet.

Dismantling the Party controlled Primary system requires a Movement, and their Mission is to build it.

There’s a shift happening in American Politics and as Open Primaries President, John Opdycke, lays out in The Hill, it’s long past time analysts learn why more and more Americans are going Independent. 45% of Americans now identify themselves as Politically Independent, and as a groundbreaking report, from The Open Primaries Education Fund demonstrates, this is a trend that’s only going up.

Political Scientists, Analysts, and Pundits, have dismissed the rise of Independent Voters for years, and ignored the myriad ways registered Independent Voters are treated as Second Class citizens, and submitted to Legal, Political, and Administrative Bias

Independent Voters are a cross-section of America, but their rates are particularly high among Young Voters. Over 50% of Millennial and GenZ Voters are Independent. Which is why they launched, Students for Open Primaries, an innovative project run by and for Young Voters.

And it’s not just that the Number of Independent Voters continues to Rise. Independents are exercising increasing Levels of Control over American Election Outcomes, with Dozens of States continuing to Lock these Voters out, American Democracy is reaching a boiling point as we move closer to the 2022 Primaries.

Partisan insiders prefer Closed Party Primaries. They expect Legislative Fights in as many as 12 States in 2022. They will be there on the ground mobilizing diverse Coalitions to Defeat these Efforts.

Since the beginning of the Pandemic, the Open Primaries Education Fund (501c3) has been Organizing, Cultivating, and Leading Dynamic Conversations featuring many of the Different: Leaders, Activists, Scholars, and Trouble-Makers, that make up the Current Political Reform Movement, with their Virtual Discussions Series.

They hosted Conversations with State Campaign Leaders working to Open Primaries, Young Activists organizing other Gen Z’ers around Political Reform, cCvil Rights Leaders on the connection between Political Reform and Voting Rights, and Veterans fighting to Enfranchise the 49% of U.S. Veterans who are Politically Independent.

These Voices are absolutely Critical to the future success of the Democracy movement. These Conversations are Diverse, Thoughtful, Unpredictable, Authentic, sometimes Difficult, but they All share one common Goal: making our Democracy work for EVERY Voter. If you’ve missed any of these Conversations, you can watch ALL of them HERE.

The Series returns Wed. January 12th, 2022, at 3pm EDT, with “Everything You Want to Know About Andrew Yang & the Forward Party. REGISTER TODAY.

In 2022, there will be Legislative and Ballot Referendum Campaigns in 4 to 6 States, along with Campaigns to Defeat Closed Primary Legislation in 6 to 12 States. In addition, they will be prioritizing Leadership Development, State based Public Education, Student Outreach, New Research on the benefits of Nonpartisan Primaries, and innovative Litigation to Challenge the Constitutionality of Closed, Partisan Primaries, and State Election Codes that Discriminate against Independent Voters.

Primary Rreform, is now front and center, in the National Debate on how we Reform our Politics. “Let All Voters Vote” is no longer just a Slogan. It’s a Movement.