Another Win in the Arizona Courts for Open Primaries 

ARIZONA: A Maricopa County Superior Court judge has rejected opponents' legal challenge to open primaries/Prop 140–determining that a ballot proposition to end partisan primaries in Arizona, which has already been printed on the ballot, will have votes cast for it counted after all.

This is an important step for Make Elections Fair AZ to have Arizonans determine whether or not it’s time to let all voters vote. The AZ State Supreme Court will hear a final appeal.

Sarah Smallhouse, the chair of the Make Elections Fair Committee: 

“This is an undeniable triumph for Arizona voters. Prop 140 is officially on the ballot and every vote will be counted. This ruling solidifies that our democratic process cannot be undermined by frivolous legal tactics.”

SPECIAL REPORT from the Independent National Convention

This week the Open Primaries Team headed to Denver for the Independent National Convention (INC) to join hundreds of independent voters and leaders from all across the country. We met some great people and deepened relationships with dozens of reform leaders from across the country. 

OP President John Opdycke and IndependentVoting.org President Jackie Salit opened the convention with a discussion of the rich history of the modern independent movement, and the connectivity between electoral reform and direct democracy. It was a great conversation and we will be releasing a 25 minute video soon.

OP National Organizer Sila Avcil & Let Us Vote’s Will Conway asked attendees an important question: why are you an independent? We saw answers from across the spectrum but Eric Mulder, an independent running for CO House summed it up simply: “I’m an independent because people should have a meaningful voice no matter what their party is/isn’t.”

Opdycke and Senior VP Jeremy Gruber attended a dinner hosted by Kent Thiry and the Colorado Voters First Prop 131 team who are working hard to enact nonpartisan open primaries and final 4 ranked voting in the general election–it’s on the ballot this November and we’re all pulling for another win in CO!

Open Primaries National Organizer David Cherry sat down with Christopher Life (CEO of INC)  and discussed the independent movement’s role and connection to the civil rights movement and how he views the independent movement as uniquely equipped to complete the work that MLK Jr. started.

Finally, Opdycke and Gruber participated in a fantastic panel discussion on open primaries with Jackie Salit, Jenny Kirby (South Dakota Open Primaries) and Melanie Combs-Dyer (Executive Director, Let Us Vote MD)

NEW YORK: Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, has a new passion: recruiting and promoting veterans to run for office as independents. He launched Independent Veterans of America this summer and has already built a roster of serious candidates from across the country - including Dan Osborn, a Navy vet (and recent guest on our virtual discussion series) running for US Senate in Nebraska who is currently polling neck and neck with his Republican opponent. 

On 9/11, Open Primaries President John Opdycke, Senior Vice President Jeremy Gruber, Let Us Vote Project Manager Will Conway, and board member Dr. Jessie Fields attended the inaugural fundraiser/rally for this important new organization, which was held in the historic Fraunces Tavern just blocks from ground zero in lower Manhattan. Forward Party co-founder Andrew Yang brought greetings and echoed Rieckhoff’s sentiments that as a country, “we deserve better when it comes to our politics.” 

We do deserve better.  And independents of all stripes have a crucial role to play in making it happen. Congratulations Paul and the IVA team for a successful launch! 

COLORADO: Two Mayors in Colorado have come together to encourage Coloradans to embrace reform this year and pass Proposition 131 to establish nonpartisan open primary elections for all of Colorado’s state and federal offices in the future, with the top four vote-winners — regardless of party — moving on to a ranked-choice general election ballot. Guyleen Castriotta, Mayor of Broomfield and  Anna Stout, the former Mayor of the City of Grand Junction:

NEVADA: There’s a new opinion piece out from Jane Grossman, a retired management consultant and political, environmental and social fairness advocate who is fed up with Nevada’s closed primaries and is calling on all Nevadans to support Question 3 (which would abolish closed primaries and institute RCV) this November: 

“The system as it now exists not only biases election outcomes; it violates the tenets of representative democracy by squelching the voices and votes of almost 1 million Nevadans registered as nonpartisan or with a minor party who are locked out of our state’s taxpayer-funded primaries — nearly 40 percent of the electorate.”

OKLAHOMA: The Politics Editor of Oklahoma Voice, Janelle Stecklein, has a new op-ed where she admits that for the first time she didn’t vote in primary elections. Why? Because she’s an independent voter and was shut out of elections she pays for:

“If any race is going to be decided in a primary, perhaps it should be placed on the General Election ballot instead. If not, maybe it’s time to take a look at adopting an open primary system like many other states have done.”

SOUTH DAKOTA: South Dakota Open Primaries’ Chair Joe Kirby has new piece out on the new and powerful voting bloc emerging in South Dakota and how the South Dakota Republican party’s internal conflicts reveal the need for meaningful reform in SD.

UTAH: The Utah Supreme Court has agreed to decide if Amendment D–which would guarantee the Legislature can repeal voter-approved ballot initiatives–will go to the ballot. 

Previously, 3rd District Judge Dianna Gibson sided with voter rights groups who argued the language going on the ballot for voters to decide was “misleading,”: 

"Without transparent, accurate and complete disclosure about the amendments, there can be no meaningful right to vote.”

On Wednesday September 25th (12pm-1pm EDT) John Opdycke will join a panel of election experts for Business America’s virtual event: Party Rifts & Voter Shifts: Political Realignment in the Election & Beyond for a wide ranging conversation about how new voting/registration trends may impact future elections, public policies, government dysfunction, and the future of business engagement in the political process.

Then on Saturday September 28th (1:30pm EDT) Opdycke will participate in Equal Vote’s 2024 Symposium joining an exciting lineup of experts from a wide array of disciplines to discuss trends and propose solutions to some of the most difficult challenges in election reform.

Have a great weekend,

The Open Primaries Team