In 2023, Legislators in 5-10 states will introduce legislation to curtail the voting rights of millions of citizens. How? By enacting partisan voter registration and closed partisan primaries, disenfranchising independents and forcing voters to join a political party in order to vote in publicly funded elections. Open Primaries is catalyzing a national response to a) defeat these bills and b) set the stage for positive changes to the primary system in years to come. 

Overview 

In addition to ongoing public education, research, and grassroots base building, Open Primaries (c4) and the Open Primaries Education Fund (c3) work-in partnership with local and national organizations-in four main arenas to reform our primary system. 

• Ballot Referendum campaigns for top two, top four, or final five nonpartisan primaries (Nevada, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Idaho, Oregon, Arizona, NYC).
• Legislative campaigns to allow independent voters to participate in partisan primaries (Kentucky, Pennsylvania). 
• Pressure campaigns on the DNC, RNC and state parties to allow independents to vote in presidential primaries. 
• Litigation to challenge taxpayer funding of closed partisan primaries (Florida, NY, Arizona) 

There is a fifth arena, equally important. Preventing partisan activists from enacting closed primaries in states that currently have an open or semi-open system. 

2023 will be a year in which playing “defense” will be crucial. Here’s why: 

1. MAGA Republicans are focused on the process. Secretaries of State. Boards of Elections and Canvassers. And now the rules of primary elections. The MAGA wing wants closed primaries in as many states as possible. Trump himself is talking about this. 
2. Bills to enact closed primaries are being prepared in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Missouri, Montana and Tennessee. We also suspect that bills will be introduced in Mississippi, Texas, and Ohio. We won’t know for sure the legislative sessions commence in 2023. 
3. In 2020, 20 million Americans were locked out of the presidential primaries because they are independent voters. If these bills pass, that number will double to approximately 42 million in 2024. Closed primaries will have a negative impact on all voters, but it will particularly impact African-Americans. These are Southern states with large Black communities. We learned this intimately in 2010 working closely with Rep. Joe Neal and the legislative black caucus in South Carolina, where we successfully defeated a lawsuit to enact partisan voter registration and closed primaries. As Rep. Joe Neal (now deceased) said in 2010, “The South Carolina federal court has upheld the rights of voters in South Carolina, especially the minority community, to free and unfettered access to the polls. This measure (closed primaries) would have eliminated the ability of hundreds of thousands of African Americans to have a voice in who represents them in many positions of influence in South Carolina.”
4. A small right wing faction of the Idaho GOP sued to enact partisan voter registration and closed primaries in 2011 – against the wishes of every Republican leader in the state. We joined the State of Idaho as co-defendants, but lost in Federal Appeals Court. In the decade since Idaho enacted closed primaries the GOP has gone from conservative to completely conspiratorial. We’re not suggesting that closed primaries are the direct or only cause of this. But as this local editorial suggests, closed primaries magnified the power of the fringes and drove out many mainstream Republican voices. You just need to look at Idaho’s devolution to see that things can go from bad to worse and make future reform in such a state even more challenging.
5. Our strategy is fluid, state specific, and coalitional in approach. In the fall, we will do research and advance work to identify allies. Allies will include traditional/moderate Republican legislators who don’t want to see a radical change to the existing system, as well as journalists, Democrats, civil rights groups, civic groups, and business leaders. Each state has different dynamics, but there is one common thread. These are GOP-dominated states. To be successful, we need GOP allies. And we cannot wait until the bills are introduced to find those allies. 

Make a tax deductible donation to the Open Primaries Education Fund here or mail a check to OPEN PRIMARIES EDUCATION FUND, 244 Madison Ave, #1106, NY, NY 10016.