Campaign to Repeal Closed Primaries in PA Moves Forward  

Ballot PA’s campaign to repeal closed primaries and ensure 1.4 million independent Pennsylvanians have full and equal voting rights took another big step forward this week when the House State Government Committee advanced a bill–House Bill 280-that would open the primaries to independent voters.

REMINDER: A recent poll from Franklin & Marshall’s Center for Public Opinion and Research found that more than three-quarters (77%) PA voters surveyed favored primary elections that allow registered independent voters to participate in the primary election of their choice.

Two PA veterans spoke out this week championing the effort and connecting the dots for why this issue resonates so much with America’s veterans: 

Dennis Miller in the Delaware Valley Journal

And Ed Beck in Trib Live:

Opening New Mexico’s Primaries: A Roadmap for Reform 

Ten years ago, Open Primaries formed a partnership with New Mexico reform leaders to pass open primaries in the state legislature. This year we succeeded, and on April 7th Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an open primaries bill into law–ensuring over 340,000 registered independent voters will have the right to fully participate in all elections. 

Now, in a new report, we map out why the campaign to open New Mexico’s primaries was successful and how it can serve as a roadmap for future campaigns to achieve lasting political reform.

We found 8 key lessons:

Read the full report here. 

As Calls Grow for Primary Reform in NYC, Open Primaries Hits the Streets All Week to Talk Directly to Voters

ICYMI: The NYC Charter Revision Commission, which has the power to put initiatives on the ballot, has been holding hearings for several months and we have been organizing dozens of independent voters to come to each hearing and demand open primaries.  The Commission has gotten the message, and their new preliminary report endorsing primary reform has launched a flurry of articles from AMNY, The New York Post, The New York Times and NY1.  

All this has inspired us to go out in force all this week and start talking to some of the 1 million independent voters that are locked out of primary elections. 

Some of the common responses we’re hearing from voters: “Primaries should be open to all voters!” “Closed primaries don’t make any sense!” and “This is unfair and perpetuates a toxic process.” 

We’ll be sharing some highlight videos from this week’s interviews in next week’s newsletter–keep an eye out! 

And we’re still looking for independents to attend in person and on zoom and submit written testimony for the upcoming CRC Hearings. These next few hearings are critical – we have to convince the Charter Revision to not just consider but to act and place a proposal before the voters this fall.

If you can testify in person, reach out to [email protected] for all the details. If you can’t attend, you can submit testimony online through our partners at New York City Open Primaries.

NEXT PRIMARY BUZZ DISCUSSION: New York, New York: If We Can We Make It Here…. A Conversation with John Avlon

Six months ago, it seemed like New York City would hold on to its outdated Boss-Tweed-style-closed-primary-election-system forever.  But then everything changed. New Yorkers spoke out and the recently appointed Charter Revision Commission listened. Primary reform is now squarely on the agenda in NYC - click here to read the Commission’s preliminary report.  

Independents and reformers tried to bring open primaries to NYC in 2002, 2003, and 2010, but we were chewed up and spit out by an entrenched establishment. But as the number of independent voters soared (well past one million now, twice as many as Republicans) and voter turnout declined, new possibilities began to emerge.    

On Wednesday May 28th at 11AM ET John Opdycke will sit down with John Avlon, an award-winning journalist, author, news anchor and media executive. He is a former CNN senior political analyst and anchor, editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast, and the 2024 Democratic congressional nominee in New York’s First District. He currently hosts a solutions journalism podcast on The xxxxxx called “How to Fix It” and serves as the Chairman of Citizens Union, New York’s oldest good government group. John is a long time open primaries leader.

They will explore what’s changed, where we are in the process, and what a shift to open primaries could mean for NYC and the country.

Have a great weekend,

The Open Primaries Team