Troiano is the author of “The Primary Solution” and executive director of Unite America, which published research earlier this year on the impact partisan primaries have on elections and the disenfranchisement of over 23 million independent voters nationwide.
Not to mention the millions of third-party voters who are largely left out of the primary process as well. Unite America found that the end result of partisan primaries in the US is that 8% of eligible voters end up deciding 83% of congressional races.
“One of our 10-year goals (at Unite America) is to abolish closed partisan primaries in our country so that it is the case for any voter that if you are registered to vote, you can participate in every taxpayer-funded election,” said Troiano.
He added that to date this has been a state-by-state battle for reformers, but said some federal action will be needed to achieve nationwide change. One of the biggest reasons is because about half of US states do not have a citizen-led ballot initiative process.
Most districts, both at the state level and the federal level, are safe for one party or the other, which means that many races can go uncontested, but also partisan primaries can be used as a weapon by parties against candidates who don’t toe the party line enough.
As Fitzpatrick noted during the webinar, primary is not just a noun – it is a verb, as the number one concern for most lawmakers is that they will get primaried if they do not entrench themselves deep enough in partisan politics.
As part of its research, Unite America commissioned polling that found that 77% of excluded independent voters think it is unfair that they can’t vote in taxpayer-funded primaries and 82% want to see primaries opened to them.
A majority of excluded independents also say they would be more likely to support a candidate and party that supports giving them fair and equal elections.
Unite America also commissioned a poll in 2023 from Citizen Data that found that 91% of people surveyed agree with the statement that “all voters should be able to vote for any candidate in every taxpayer-funded election.”
Further, 76% believe that candidates should earn a majority vote in order to win an election.
Fitzpatrick, Golden, and the other sponsors want to see the Let America Vote Act take center stage in this election cycle. Check out the full conversation during the Veterans For All Voters webinar above.
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Publish date : 2024-08-14 11:27:00
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