Utah Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Voters

Utah voters will not decide next month on a constitutional amendment asking voters to cede power over ballot measures to lawmakers after the Utah Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision voiding the amendment.

The Utah State Legislature had placed the amendment on the ballot to try and circumvent another Supreme Court ruling from July, which found that the Legislature has very limited authority to change laws approved through citizen initiatives. That ruling stemmed from attempts by the state legislature to roll back gerrymandering reform passed by Utah voters in 2018.

In this case, the Court upheld a lower court finding that the ballot question language was “counterfactual” and did not disclose to voters the unfettered power they would be handing to state lawmakers.

Mark Gaber, Attorney for the Plaintiffs weighed in on the ruling:

With this decision, the path for Utah voters to pass more reforms in the future is looking bright.

It’s Rally Time! 

There are 8 open primary campaigns on the ballot across the country in 2024: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, South Dakota and Washington D.C. The national open primaries has been working for years to build this kind of critical mass.  It’s a huge accomplishment.  Now the challenge is to pull out a massive vote.  

Every campaign is working overtime to pull out a strong vote…and you can help!  Whether you live in Texas or Tennessee, New York or New Mexico, California or Connecticut, you can support these important campaigns to let all voters vote.

Attend the Virtual Open Primaries Rally on Monday, October 21st from 6pm to 7pm ET. Bring your friends, family and colleagues. Invite everyone you know to attend the rally. We promise you will walk away with a deep appreciation for the incredible work each of these campaigns has done to give voters a powerful way to impact our political system this November.  

Forward Party Founder Andrew Yang and Open Primaries President John Opdycke are co-hosting and Unite America, Forward Party, Independent Voting, Independent Voting Network, Veterans for All Voters are all co-sponsoring the event. 

You will hear from campaign spokespeople and be able to directly engage with them and your fellow attendees in a lively open Q and A.  We’ll watch inspiring videos from key campaign states and you will learn how you can help by making donations, sending letters, talking to friends, etc. Plus ... a special guest or two?!

REGISTER TODAY:

Now is the time to do everything we can to enfranchise every possible voter this November.

New York Daily News Editorial Board Endorses Nonpartisan Primaries for NYC

In a major new endorsement, the New York Daily News calls for the adoption of nonpartisan primaries to pair with the current ranked choice voting system citing: 

 “Ranked-choice voting makes much, much, much more sense when it applies not to a closed partisan primary but to an all-comers contest. We still don’t have that in New York City — with one exception.”

That exception is a special election–which could happen in NYC if Mayor Adams steps down amidst a corruption indictment. As they point out, a nonpartisan open primary makes the election process much more meaningful and representative of the people of NY:

Read the full article here.

Let Us Vote Hears From Hundreds of Independents from Across the Country

LetUsVote traveled to the Independent National Convention in Denver, Colorado, where Will Conway (Let Us Vote Campaign Leader)  and Sila Avcil (Open Primaries National Organizer) met hundreds of independent voters across the country. We asked them a simple question: "WHY are you an independent voter?"

Check out a few of our favorite answers here:

Independents may disagree on policy, but when it comes to why they're independent, they often agree: we demand a political process and culture that doesn’t divide us, but helps our country grow and innovate.

Don’t take our word for it. Check out this research from Arizona State University. The key finding: Independents have much more diverse social media networks than Democrats and Republicans. 

Let Us Vote is always looking for supporters to share their story and help change the narrative about independents - like the four folks above -you can record a video or write out your story. These stories are crucial to challenging the narrative that independents are really “partisan leaners.”

And follow Let Us Vote on Instagram to hear from independents all across the country changing that narrative. 

ARKANSAS: An Arkansas judge has denied a request for a preliminary injunction filed by Republican Party of Arkansas state convention delegates to close the primaries. This is another example of the on-going attack on open primaries we’re seeing across the country–especially in a number of southern states who currently hold open primaries. 

ARIZONA: Paul Johnson, the Former Phoenix Mayor recently participated in a televised debate in support of Make Elections Fair AZ’ Prop.140, a first-of-its-kind citizens initiative that would create open nonpartisan primaries and charge the legislature with determining their scope. He went up against Former Arizona Supreme Court Justice Andrew Gould, who argued for Prop. 133, which would require a partisan primary system. Both initiatives are on the ballot and if both pass, the one with the most votes will take effect. 

Important to note: according to a statewide survey, 77% of Arizonans agree with the statement: 

“Our partisan primary system rewards the most extreme candidates who then need to keep their narrow base of primary voters satisfied while they are in office so they can get reelected. We need to make changes to our primary system so we elect leaders who represent more than just a small segment of voters.”

You can watch the full debate here. 

COLORADO: Denver Mayor Mike Johnston has added his name to the growing chorus of Coloradans who support Colorado Voters First’s Prop 131 to enact nonpartisan primaries with ranked choice voting in the general elections: 

“Denver mayoral elections are non-partisan, which means the voters had the opportunity to hear from each candidate and vote for the person they believed would best serve the city, regardless of party. Mayor Johnston saw firsthand how that empowered people to make the best decision for themselves, and believes voters should have that opportunity in all of their local elections.”

-Spokesperson Jordan Fuja.

He joins Colorado’s Governor Jared Polis who also recently endorsed Prop 131.  

FLORIDA: Bill Korson, Former educator and the Director of the Coalition for Quality Public Education is speaking out against Florida’s Amendment 1 and the push to make Florida’s school board elections partisan–highlighting the fact that because of Florida’s closed primary system, millions of Floridians will be automatically shut out of having a voice in their local school boards: 

“Public education is for all of the people and all of the voters should have the opportunity to select school board members!” 

IDAHO: Great new piece out from Debbie Reid Oleson, a rancher, retired teacher and League of Women Voters member in Blackfoot outlining why she’s supporting Idahoans for Open Primaries’ Prop 1 this year:

SOUTH DAKOTA: Former South Dakota House of Representative and Assistant Majority Leader of the Republican Caucus, Michael Wagner has a new op-ed where he lays out the 5 simple reasons he’s supporting South Dakota Open Primaries’ Yes on H Amendment to enact top two open primaries: 

1. Everyone should get to vote
2. People, not political parties, should control our elections
3. Tax dollars should not be used for partisan politics
4. All voters should have a choice
5. Elected officials should be elected by a majority of voters

WASHINGTON DC: A poll out in DC from Lake Research Partners finds that 62% of DC voters support Vote Yes on 83 ballot initiative to enact open primaries and ranked choice voting. If enacted,  the initiative would enfranchise 73,000 independent voters in DC. Campaign Leader Lisa D.T. Rice lays out simply how many DC voters are feeling: "We want full democracy here in D.C.”

Have a great weekend,

The Open Primaries Team