OKLAHOMA GOP SUES TO STOP THE CAMPAIGN TO OPEN OKLAHOMA’S PRIMARIES

The campaign to open Oklahoma’s primaries to all voters (SQ 836) has been gaining serious traction the last few months–now partisan insiders are pushing back.

The state’s Republican Party is asking the Oklahoma Supreme Court to block State Question 836, a proposed ballot initiative that would open up primary elections to all voters, regardless of party affiliation.

Who are the actual people opposing the initiative? The voters and leaders of Oklahoma? Nope–far from it! 

From the SQ836 campaign: 

“Now we can all see it for ourselves. Just look at the face of the Objection filed against SQ836 —- the citizen petition that would make all politicians accountable to all voters.

These aren’t your neighbors, your friends, your family.  These aren’t your teachers, coaches, nurses, coffee slingers, Sunday School volunteers, or small business owners trying to make a difference for their families and communities.

These are DC, Virginia, and even Georgia lawyers counting on us not noticing who’s behind an out-of-state mission to clamp down on Oklahoma voters.  

Unlike these opposition lawyers, we at SQ 836 and Oklahoma United are your neighbors and friends, right here, with an Oklahoma solution to an Oklahoma problem: the same unified primary ballot we use without a problem in every Oklahoma town and city, finally ending a broken statewide election system that fails to serve us….Oklahomans should have a chance to decide for themselves if open primaries, less division, and more freedom is good for Oklahoma.”

Enthusiasm from Oklahomans has not dimmed–just this week Ros Elder wrote a piece for Tulsa World on how creating nonpartisan primaries could improve Oklahoma’s abysmal voter turnout. 

If you’re in Oklahoma – we encourage you to join the effort and get involved today.

When the New York City Charter Revision Commission started holding public hearings earlier this year, they had no idea what was in store for them.

Scores of independent voters and concerned New Yorkers have called on the Commission to open NYC’s closed primaries to the over 1,000,000 independent voters in the five boroughs. For context, as Jeremy Gruber, Open Primaries pointed out at the CRC hearing last week in Staten Island:

 “Ten states–20% of all states–have less than a million TOTAL registered voters. Imagine if every registered voter in Vermont or Hawaii or Delaware or Rhode Island was denied a meaningful vote. That’s the scale of impact of NY’s closed primaries.”

Independents have testified in person, on zoom and through written testimony saying that the time has come to finally open the primaries. In her written testimony, Sheryl Willaims wrote:

"I pay taxes too. As a lifelong independent, I no longer want to be barred from participation. Let all registered voters vote in every round of voting—no more closed primaries. Or to put it another way, no more exclusionary primaries!”

The Daily News Editorial Board has now added their voice urging the Commission to move forward with reforms to the primary system. The editorial board writes, “ Far better — far fairer to voters and candidates alike — to let all candidates vie against one another in a nonpartisan primary...Improve the elections, and do it soon.”

The work we’ve been doing to organize and bring out independent voters is having a real impact. 

City and State confirmed in its coverage that the Charter Revision Commission is now “seriously considering election reforms… “including…implementing an ‘open primary’ system, according to several people with insight on commission discussions.”

If you are a New York City voter and would like to learn more about the campaign for opening the primaries, email Cathy Stewart at [email protected].

Independents Speak Out for Open Primaries in Florida and Pennsylvania

Nearly 4 million unaffiliated Florida voters are currently barred from voting in primaries. 

The Democratic party of Florida is now considering opening the primaries to these voters–a good first step in righting the wrong of closed primaries as our colleague and Florida collaborator Bruce Armstrong pointed out in a new op-ed:

“In 87.5% of state legislative districts 9 (in 2024), the winner of the dominant party’s primary was the certain winner of the general election. Locking 4 million registered voters out is not only highly unfair to those voters, it also deprives Florida of their input and contributes to the hyper-partisanship of today's politics.” 

He calls on the Democratic party to go one (bold) step further and lead the charge in embracing a citizen initiative to create open primaries across the state. 

Meanwhile in Pennsylvania, where Ballot PA has successfully passed legislation to open the primaries in the House and Senate in varying years, USA Today columnist Chris Brennan gets personal as he talks about why it’s time for him and the rest of the state’s 1 million independent voters to finally have a voice in electing their representatives.  

He suggests the legislature needs to feel more pressure:

“Spotlight the comfortable politicians dodging voters. Push them into awkward places until they make room for the very voters who pay for their salaries and their elections.”

ONLY 12 HOURS LEFT: Help Us Reach Our Goal

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: We’re in the final day of our 2025-2026 annual fundraising campaign, we’ve received two $50,000 matching gifts from longtime donors–yesterday we successfully hit those matching gift goals!!!

That means we’re close–so close! We’ve raised $803,425 of our $1,000,000 goal. But we only have one more day to go.

Can you join the hundreds of supporters across the country that have already come on board to invest in putting American voters back in the driver’s seat for our elections? 

The enthusiasm we’re experiencing from supporters, local leaders and major donors alike is overwhelming. Something is happening in this movement and we’re inspired and excited to be playing the role that we are. 

We hope you’re inspired too. Let’s get this done! 

MAKE A TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATION HERE.

YOU’RE INVITED: Come Celebrate the New Mexico Victory with the Team that Made it Happen!

On Wednesday April 23 at 3PM ET Open Primaries President John Opdycke will welcome key leaders from the successful New Mexico campaign to our Primary Buzz Discussions Series to talk about what makes a successful campaign and what this win means for the national open primaries movement. 

Featuring: Sila Avcil & Bob Perls (New Mexico Open Elections), New Mexico State Senator Natalie Figueroa, Ahtza Dawn Chavez (NM Native Vote), Jeremy Gruber (Open Primaries).

We hope you can join us to celebrate this major achievement for the voters of New Mexico and the entire reform community and bring your questions. New Mexico is just the tip of the iceberg!

Have a great weekend,

The Open Primaries Team