Alaska Repeal Likely To Make Ballot While Idaho AG Brings Lawsuit

ALASKA: An initiative aimed at repealing Alaska’s Top 4/RCV system still has sufficient signatures to qualify for the November ballot, attorneys for the state said in court filings this week, days after a judge disqualified some of the booklets used to gather signatures. Superior Court Judge Christina Rankin in a ruling last Friday found instances in which the signature-gathering process was not properly carried out and disqualified those booklets. She ordered elections officials to remove the disqualified signatures and booklets and to determine if the measure still had sufficient signatures. Alaska Department of Law attorneys in court documents Tuesday said the Division of Elections had completed that work and found the measure “remains qualified” for the ballot. The repeal effort is being led by Alaskans for Honest Elections, an anti-RCV group. The Alaskan Supreme Court could still hear an appeal.

IDAHO: Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador is suing to block the Idahoans for Open Primaries initiative, a ballot initiative for Top 4/RCV. The initiative has already qualified for the ballot, but the Idaho AG is arguing that it is being “deceptively pitched as an open primary initiative.” Idahoans for Open Primaries Spokesperson Luke Mayville: “The Attorney General is attempting to block our initiative because he’s afraid that the vast majority of Idahoans will vote for it. He knows he can’t persuade the voters, so he’s trying to prevent them from having a say.”  The Idaho Supreme Court will have until September 7th to weigh in.

TENNESSEE: Voter intimidation continues to escalate in Tennessee–last week postcards from the Williamson County Republican Party hit mailboxes, pinpointing voters who have voted in at least one Republican primary and pressuring to maintain their status as ‘bona fide’ party members by voting Republican.

REMINDER: Tennessee lawmakers passed a recent law requiring polling locations to post signage threatening voters with criminal prosecution if they choose a ballot for a party they aren’t registered in. Tennessee state law doesn't require anyone to register by party affiliation–the state has open primaries where voters can pick whatever ballot they want. As Brentwood voter and independent Kent Fourman said in an interview with NBC News Channel 5 Nashville: "I think this is voter intimidation. I pretty much said, 'Come after me. Please. I'd love for you to come after me. I just broke the law.”

Open Primaries is working with the TN League of Women Voters on litigation challenging these practices. Read more about the lawsuit HERE.

This week’s citizen spotlight at Let Us Vote features more independent South Dakotans speaking out and demanding full and equal voting rights in their state including Mike Brooke:  

"A lot of times with the parties, you get the feeling that someone is doing the thinking for everyone else. That doesn't appeal to me, I like to think for myself. But it's frustrating - primaries are frustrating because I don't get to vote in them. That's the downside to being an independent voter."

Watch his full video here:

And Kara Dirkson who spent her first career as a high school history teacher, which she believes turned her into an independent voter:

"I took it very seriously, and I wanted to be the sort of teacher that helped my students think critically. I also knew that any political affiliation I had was discoverable. I wasn't comfortable signing on carte blanche with one party or another. I find my views to be a la carte. So it was at first this crusade to be a good teacher and to be open minded, and I really embraced it as my own personal perspective."

Watch her full video here:

All Oregon Votes has published an analysis of the May 2024 primary election identifying “marginalized” voters: those who were denied the right to vote for any registered candidate because of their political affiliation or lack thereof. These voters are either independent, or the party they belong to did not field candidates in their district.

Overall, more than 40% of voters were marginalized in Oregon’s state house and senate primaries. In some state legislative races, more than 60% of voters were denied the right to vote for any registered candidate.

Over 50% of Oregon’s voters are registered independent and disenfranchised in the state’s closed primaries.  All Oregon Votes is working to guarantee equal voting rights for all Oregonians regardless of political affiliation. If you’re in Oregon–sign up here to receive all the latest news.

ARIZONA: Arizona independents not only face closed presidential primaries, but a myriad of laws limiting their capacity to participate in the electoral process more broadly. A new piece this week describes how the state’s vote from home laws discriminate against independents by requiring them to request a ballot before every election, while party voters are automatically mailed ballots.

FLORIDA: This week we saw another example of Florida’s fraudulent primary write-in loophole being abused. REMINDER: in 1998, 64% of Florida’s voters passed a constitutional amendment in favor of open primaries when candidates were running unopposed. Both parties made a mockery of it by closing the primaries through the use of sham write-in candidates. This week we saw three of the four candidates running in the Escambia County Commissioner District 1 race have close ties to incumbent Commissioner Jeff Bergosh and their presence in the race could split the vote in his favor. The write-in loophole is widely used to help incumbents and prevent true competition and politicians openly flaunt their blatant acts of voter suppression.

GOOD NEWS: Since launching our summer fundraising campaign: we’ve raised $137,420 towards our $200,000 goal (69% of the way there!!)

We’ve been blown away by the response and enthusiasm we’ve received from our supporters across the country during this campaign–people making multiple donations, new supporters (42% of all donations have come from new supporters!) coming on board and sharing with us why this matters to them, saying things like “I really believe dismantling party control of voting is the single greatest thing we could be doing to help our country right now.” We’re so grateful/hopeful and inspired by all of you—THANK YOU!

ONLY ONE WEEK LEFT TO RAISE FUNDS TO GO TOWARDS OUR EFFORTS TO PASS OPEN PRIMARY INITIATIVES ON THE BALLOT IN 7 STATES THIS NOVEMBER & RECEIVE OUR $200,000 MATCHING GIFT: This campaign ends July 31st–we need your support today–help us raise this final $62,580 to ensure we hit our goal and have the necessary funds to go into this fall campaign season with every resource possible to winning these campaigns and enfranchising millions of voters across the country.

Thank you so much,

The Open Primaries Team