The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 9, 2023
Today’s Script
(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)
Who Can Vote in a State Primary? Well, that Depends on Where You Live and Sometimes Whether You Belong to a Political Party
You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.
A New Hampshire GOP resolution recently surfaced to “close” its party primary to the state’s unaffiliated voters. What ARE the types of primaries, who can vote in them, and who decides? Turns out, it’s complicated.
A state’s primary elections are usually governed by state law, but parties, as in New Hampshire, can dictate their own rules. “Closed primaries” don’t allow any voter not registered with that party to participate. “Semi-open” primaries, which New Hampshire has currently, allows unaffiliated voters to take either party’s ballot, but a registered Democrat or Republican can only vote in their own party’s primary.
“Open primaries” allow any registered voter to choose their preferred party ballot, and “single ballot open primaries” put all candidates of all parties on a single ballot for all voters to consider. Open primaries are sometimes used in combination with ranked choice voting, as is being proposed in Nevada and Arizona, and which has been implemented in Alaska for some elections. The National Conference of State Legislatures also identifies other flavors as well, such as “partially open” and “partially closed.”
An April 2023 Gallup poll found 49% of Americans now identify as independent voters. So movements to close primaries to unaffiliated voters have become a headache for party leaders courting independents to support their candidates. More on that in an upcoming report.
We have more on types of primaries at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
InDepthNH – GOP Resolution Would Block 320,000 Undeclared NH Voters from Voting in Republican Primaries
BallotPedia – Partisan affiliations of registered voters
Axios – Record number of Americans say they’re politically independent
NPR – The U.S. has a ‘primary problem,’ say advocates who call for new election systems
Open Primaries – Primary Rules in Your State
National Conference of State Legislatures – State Primary Election Types
Brennan Center for Justice – Shhh, Or Independents Might Actually Get to Vote
Groups Taking Action:
Open Primaries, FairVote, Represent.Us, Unite America
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#Democracy #DemocracyNews #OpenPrimaries #LetUsVote #IndependentVoters