Open Primaries
| Open Primaries | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | New York, New York |
| Type: | 501(c)(4) |
| Top official: | John Opdycke, President |
| Year founded: | 2014 |
| Website: | Official website |
As of 2016, Open Primaries was a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization based in New York.
Mission
According to Open Primaries website, the group's mission was as follows:[2]
| “ |
The mission of Open Primaries is to advocate for open and nonpartisan primary systems, counter efforts to impose closed primaries, educate voters, train and support spokespeople, and participate in the building of local, state and national open primaries coalitions.[3] |
” |
Background
Open Primaries, established in 2014, is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization that advocated for open primaries. The group argued that open primaries made elections more competitive and encouraged more participation, noting that "43% of Americans identify as politically independent."[2]
Open primary
- See also: Open primary
An open primary is a primary election in which any registered voter can vote in any party's primary. Voters choose which primary to vote in; they do not have to be members of that party in order to vote.[4]
Work
The group sought to fulfill its mission through four strategies, including state-based ballot measure campaigns, creating strong and diverse coalitions, voter education, and engaging elected officials and candidates.[2]
Political activity
Ballot measure activity, 2016
South Dakota
Open Primaries was advocating for the passage of South Dakota's Nonpartisan Elections Amendment, which proposed to establish nonpartisan elections in South Dakota. The measure appeared on the ballot on November 8, 2016.[5]
Colorado
Open Primaries supported Colorado's Presidential Primary Election Proposition, which proposed to re-establish primary elections in Colorado and allow open primaries. They also supported Colorado's Unaffiliated Elector Proposition, which proposed to allow unaffiliated electors to vote in the primary election of a major political party without declaring an affiliation with that political party and to permit a political party, in some circumstances, to select candidates by committee or convention, rather than through a primary election. Both measures appeared on the ballot on November 8, 2016.[6]
Overview of ballot measure support and opposition
The following table details Open Primaries' ballot measure stances available on Ballotpedia:
| Ballot measure support and opposition for Open Primaries | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballot measure | Year | Position | Status |
| South Dakota Nonpartisan Elections, Constitutional Amendment V (2016) | 2016 | Supported | |
| Colorado Presidential Primary Election, Proposition 107 (2016) | 2016 | Supported |  Approved
|
| Colorado Unaffiliated Elector, Proposition 108 (2016) | 2016 | Supported | Approved
|
| Oregon Open Primary Initiative, Measure 90 (2014) | 2014 | Supported[7] | 
|
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Open Primaries'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Oregon Measure 90, Top-Two Primaries Initiative (2014)
- The Tap: Thursday, October 6, 2016
- The Tap: Debate Season in Full Swing
- Ballot measure influencers, 2016
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Open Primaries, "Home," accessed September 13, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Open Primaries, "Mission," accessed September 13, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ MTV Rock the Vote, "Terms and Definitions," accessed January 15, 2016
- ↑ South Dakota Secretary of State, "Campaign Finance Statement," accessed August 16, 2016
- ↑ Open Primaries, "Current Campaigns," accessed September 13, 2016
- ↑ Follow the Money, "Measure 90, Top Supporting Donors," accessed September 13, 2016
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