To: The Florida State House, The Florida State Senate, and Governor Ron DeSantis
Florida Call For 2018 Fair & Open Primaries Election Reform
Florida, unfortunately, is a CLOSED primary state, which means voters must register "Democrat" or "Republican" at least 30 days before the primary in order to vote for a candidate affiliated with the Democrats or Republicans... even though taxpayer money is used to pay for the elections, and third-party candidates have not stood a chance to win against the big-money politicians.
The "Closed" primary system is what keeps the party-system in power instead of the people. But you can do something about this.
The "Closed" primary system is what keeps the party-system in power instead of the people. But you can do something about this.
Why is this important?
Every 20 years, Florida convenes the Constitution Revision Commission. It’s a group of 37 political appointees that have the power to put constitutional amendments before the voters in 2018. Coming on the heels of the most destructive and divisive presidential campaigns ever, it’s a welcome opportunity for Floridians to demand the commission help fix our broken elections.
Despite very little notice of the commission hearings, Floridians are packing rooms to speak their minds. In fact, the commission had to move several meetings to larger rooms to accommodate the large crowds.
One of the key topics cited by dozens of speakers: getting rid of the horrible closed primary system that locks out over a quarter of our registered voters and forces politicians to cater to a small fraction of the electorate during the primary, where the majority of races are actually decided. These primary voters are often the most ideologically extreme in both major parties.
A closed primary suppresses the vote of people, who do not like political party-politics. Independent voters want to vote for the person, not the political machine behind the politician. They want the candidate to be beholding to "we the people" not the Democrats or Republicans, and the often politically corrupting party system.
Now more than ever, Florida needs to shift to open primary elections in order to accommodate the rapidly growing number of independent voters that are now a larger group of voters nationally than the Democrats or Republicans: 39% of all voters now identify themselves as "independent" rather than affiliated with one of the two major political parties, according to a 2014 analysis by the Pew Research Center, compared to 32% Democrats and 23% Republicans.
Therefore, we are asking that the CRC put Open Primaries on the ballot.
Any amendments proposed by the CRC would be placed on the 2018 General Election ballot. Any amendments placed on the ballot by the CRC would have to secure 60 percent approval by voters to be added to the Florida Constitution.
After signing this petition please go the the CRC website and post your request & comment: http://flcrc.gov/Proposals/Submit
Despite very little notice of the commission hearings, Floridians are packing rooms to speak their minds. In fact, the commission had to move several meetings to larger rooms to accommodate the large crowds.
One of the key topics cited by dozens of speakers: getting rid of the horrible closed primary system that locks out over a quarter of our registered voters and forces politicians to cater to a small fraction of the electorate during the primary, where the majority of races are actually decided. These primary voters are often the most ideologically extreme in both major parties.
A closed primary suppresses the vote of people, who do not like political party-politics. Independent voters want to vote for the person, not the political machine behind the politician. They want the candidate to be beholding to "we the people" not the Democrats or Republicans, and the often politically corrupting party system.
Now more than ever, Florida needs to shift to open primary elections in order to accommodate the rapidly growing number of independent voters that are now a larger group of voters nationally than the Democrats or Republicans: 39% of all voters now identify themselves as "independent" rather than affiliated with one of the two major political parties, according to a 2014 analysis by the Pew Research Center, compared to 32% Democrats and 23% Republicans.
Therefore, we are asking that the CRC put Open Primaries on the ballot.
Any amendments proposed by the CRC would be placed on the 2018 General Election ballot. Any amendments placed on the ballot by the CRC would have to secure 60 percent approval by voters to be added to the Florida Constitution.
After signing this petition please go the the CRC website and post your request & comment: http://flcrc.gov/Proposals/Submit