The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 22, 2024

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

A Gallup poll released this month found 43% of Americans identify as unaffiliated, independent voters. But in some states, they can’t vote in primaries. As voting begins Jan. 23rd in the New Hampshire Presidential Primary, what states are considering closing – or opening – primaries in 2024?

Closed primaries allow only those registered with a party to vote in that party’s primary.  Open primaries allow any voter to take either party’s ballot.  Semi-open primaries allow unaffiliated voters to take one or the other, while registered Democrats or Republicans can only vote in their primary.  

New Hampshire’s Presidential primary is the same as it has been for the last few decades, allowing unaffiliated voters – the state’s largest block of voters – to vote. But the NH GOP is considering closing its future primaries, joining legislators in Louisiana and Ohio.  Wyoming closed its primaries last year, joining Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, and Pennsylvania.  In Wyoming and New Hampshire, attempts to close the primary have been driven by “crossover” voting, where voters became independent to influence the outcome of another party’s primary.

With the ranks of unaffiliated voters growing, ballot initiatives for a fully open primary are under consideration in Nevada, Oregon, Arizona and Idaho.  Pennsylvania has open primary bills pending. 

We have information about your state’s primary system, and the groups taking action at  AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

National Conference of State Legislatures – State Primary Election Types
Gallup – Independent Party ID Tied for High; Democratic ID at New Low
Forbes – Voters Who Identify As Independents Skyrocket—As Democrats And Republicans Dwindle
American Democracy Minute – Fears of Crossover Voting Driving Party Activists to Close Primaries – But at the Expense of Silencing Independent Voters
CBS News –  “Crossover voting” in primaries in Wyoming is about to become more difficult

NBC News – 6 states are rethinking how they run their primaries in 2024
Louisiana Illuminator – (Opinion) Partisan primaries would be a move backward for Louisiana
Public News Service – Bills would open PA primaries to unaffiliated voters
U.S. Vote Foundation – Primary Election Dates and Rules in Your State

Groups Taking Action:
Open Primaries, FairVote, Represent.Us, Unite America,  Yes on 3 Nevada , Open Primaries Arizona, Idahoans for Open Primaries, Ballot PA

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #OpenPrimaries #LetIndependentsVote #IndependentVoters

The post On the Eve of the New Hampshire Presidential Primary, Some States Contemplate Closing their Primaries to Independents, While Others Consider Opening Them in 2024 appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

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

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!  

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #OpenPrimaries #LetUsVote #IndependentVoters

The post Who Can Vote in a State Primary? Well, that Depends on Where You Live and Sometimes Whether You Belong to a Political Party appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for June 9, 2023

Today’s Script:  (Variations occur with audio due to editing for time) 

Today’s Links now below the script

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

On Tuesday, we told you about the MIT Election Data & Science Lab’s Survey of the Performance of American Elections for the 2022 midterms, and its finding that voters were overall satisfied with the voting process.  Today, we’re exploring the findings on voting by mail – with results which may surprise people of both parties. 

MIT surveyed 200 voters in each state and DC and found that 32% of voters voted by mail, down from 46% during 2020’s pandemic voting. While 46% of Democrats voted by mail, it may surprise you that 33% of unaffiliated voters and 27% of Republicans did, too.  And they seemed to be confident in the system.  MIT found that 94% of mail-in voters were very or somewhat confident that their vote would be counted as intended.   Ninety-nine percent reported having no trouble requesting or receiving their mail-in ballot, 99% had no trouble completing it, and 98% found the process very or somewhat easy to do. 

MIT also asked mail-in voters how they returned their ballots.  Excluding the all-mail-ballot states of Oregon, Washington and Colorado, 67% mailed back their ballot, 15% used a drop box, 10% brought it to an election office, and 5% to the polling place.  

Mail-in ballots are a growing and convenient way to allow more citizens to participate in our elections. 

See details of the excellent MIT Election Data + Science Lab report at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
MIT Election Data + Science Lab – Summary of the 2022 Survey of the Performance of American Elections
MIT Election Data + Science Lab –  Full Report in PDF

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!  

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews  

The post Midterm Voters Found Mail-In Ballot Process Had Few Problems Nationwide appeared first on American Democracy Minute.