Shaping the National Narrative 

• It’s not democracy when the parties control our elections. Lisa Rice in The Hill.  
• Partisans will reflexively say that if independents want to vote in party primaries, they should register with a party. This “join the party if you want a voice” mentality is un-American. John Opdycke and Nick Troiano in US News and World Report.  
• More New Yorkers are deciding to become independent — a 14.4% increase on Long Island and New York City alone from November 2020 to May 2023, — even though we’re disenfranchised at the ballot box.  Jeremy Gruber in NY Newsday and News 12.  
• In 2022, only 2 percent of all general election races for the Texas state legislature were competitive. That’s not unusual for many states, where general election competitiveness has been in a precipitous decline for years. Jeremy Gruber in The Hill.  
• The vast majority of independents are dreading a Trump-Biden rematch. Many of them will be looking seriously at third-party candidates. John Opdycke's syndicated column Brash Tacts.

Local Leadership

• Joe Kirby writes in a new op-ed for the South Dakota Standard that it's time to let 150,000 independent or unaffiliated South Dakotan voters vote in primary elections. 
• Make Florida an Open Primaries State!  Bruce Armstrong in the Naples Daily News 
• Open Primaries Spokesperson and Forward Party leader Steve Richardson on our big win in stopping Virginia’s attempts to close its primaries. Read here. 
• An inspiring new piece by Rev. Mareo Johnson of Tulsa-based Seeking the Kingdom Ministries on why Oklahoma needs to enfranchise independents and open the primaries.

ARIZONA: Make Elections Fair AZ open primaries initiative is expected to get all the needed signatures to make it on Arizona's 2024 ballot! This is one of the most important initiatives on the ballot anywhere in the country this November and we're proud to support Make Elections Fair AZ and their whole team in making this a reality. 

ALABAMA: Open Primaries is working to keep the primaries open, particularly across the South where they are the most in jeopardy. Here's a great new piece from Bill Britt on the emerging fight to protect open primaries in Alabama.

IDAHO: Breaking news! The Idaho open primaries initiative is also on the brink of qualifying for the 2024 ballot! The campaign has received the necessary signatures but are still collecting to build up a buffer. A major step forward for the campaign. 

NEVADA: Open Primaries joined Vote Nevada and all the great activist leaders in Las Vegas ahead of the upcoming primary to facilitate dialogue amongst candidates and voters alike about the current system of nonpartisan primaries and the need to expand it to all offices. 

OKLAHOMA:  ABC News Oklahoma City covered the growing effort to enact open primaries in the Sooner State.  

WASHINGTON DC: Big legal win in DC for open primaries and RCV. The judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the fall ballot measure. Congrats to the whole team at Make All Votes Count DC for their incredible work. Onward to November!

WHAT'S NEW?

Florida Open Primaries has re-launched the campaign to open the state’s primaries and let 3.8 million independent voters vote. Check out the newly revamped site HERE and share with anyone in your network in Florida.

LET US VOTE

Independent voters have the numbers, but not the narrative. The media and political science still insists independents are “partisan leaners.”  Most independents never hear from candidates. Independents decide elections, but get no respect and face subtle and not-so-subtle discrimination in many ways. 

LetUsVote is a new initiative of Open Primaries to build community among independents.  Take 5 minutes and check out some of the wonderful video testimonials that independents have recorded since the project launched in March.  And then follow the LetUsVote campaign wherever you spend your time online to see these real, human stories of independent voters come to life: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook.  (PS - you can record your own video testimonial quickly and easily by clicking here). 

ACTIVITIES & EVENTS

• BallotPA is hosting an “UnPrimary” rally and reception on 4/11 at MaGerk’s Bar and Grill in Ft. Washington, Pennsylvania. There is still time to register to attend in person or watch the live stream.  
• ICYMI: Open Primaries President John Opdycke and Unite America's Executive Director Nick Troiano on Nick’s new book – The Primary Solution – the meteoric rise of independent voters and the ups and downs of democracy activism in 2024 America.

Have a great weekend,

The Open Primaries Team