Closed Primaries Make It So That Super Tuesday Isn’t So Super for More Than 6 Million Independent Voters

Though the parties and pundits have been quick to anoint President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump as their presumptive nominees, many voters still have an important opportunity to make their voices heard on Super Tuesday. Republican Nikki Haley and Democrat Dean Phillips, for example, may be long shots within their primaries, but they are also legitimate vehicles for voters to express a desire for an alternative to a presidential rematch that more than two-thirds of Americans say they do not want.

This frustration with the likely 2024 presidential matchup is especially true among independent voters. Yet on Super Tuesday, closed presidential primaries (where only voters registered with a party can participate) in four states (Alaska, California, Oklahoma and Utah) deny 6.2 million independents a true choice in the contest for the White House. While the Democratic parties in these states allow independent voters to participate in their primaries this cycle, independents are not permitted to vote in the Republican primaries – which feature the only competitive national contest in 2024, between Trump and Haley.

This systemic silencing of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing segment of the electorate is outrageous – and it has profound negative consequences not only for our democracy, but the political parties themselves.

Nationally, 43% of voters identify as independent, compared to 27% for both Democrats and Republicans. In 22 states, 23.5 million independent voters are locked out of closed primaries for president or Congress in 2024 – up nearly 20% over the last decade. In fact, 3 out of 4 voters consider it a “violation of voting rights,” according to a January poll conducted by Change Research for Unite America. These “excluded independent” voters are disproportionately younger and more likely to be veterans than the general population. While they express frustration with government gridlock and both major political parties, they hold strong opinions on policies. Independents vote for people, not parties.

Contrary to popular belief, independents are not disengaged or uninterested in participating. More than 80% say they want the freedom to vote in Democratic or Republican primaries for president in 2024, and 87% support opening primaries to independent voters.

Partisans will reflexively say that if independents want to vote in party primaries, they should register with a party. This “join the party if you want a voice” mentality is un-American. After all, primary elections are funded by the taxpayers. In U.S. House or other down-ballot races, where gerrymandering and geographic self-sorting mean most districts heavily favor one party or the other, primaries are often the only election that matters.

The parties should embrace open systems, not fight them. Indeed, the political party that is first to not exclude independent voters by opening their primaries may actually have a lot to gain. Open primaries could help each party nominate candidates that voters actually like. Republicans and Democrats alike have learned this lesson the hard way. In 2022, the GOP lost a slew of winnable Senate races in places like Pennsylvania because they nominated unpopular candidates in closed primaries. That same year, Democrats lost a competitive U.S. House seat in Oregon when the incumbent Democrat was primaried out of office and the party moved forward with a candidate with less general election appeal.

Polling also shows that independent voters are likely to reward the party and its candidates who champion their voting rights. According to the recent Change Research poll, 58% of excluded independents would be more likely to support the Democratic or Republican party if they embraced their voting rights.

Both parties could send a powerful message by embracing all voters, not just more partisan ones, in their elections. Maine legislators recognized this in 2022 when they passed a law opening the state’s primaries. In 2024, for the first time ever, Maine’s nearly 275,000 independent voters will have a say in choosing general election candidates.

Five states (Alaska, California, Louisiana, Nebraska and Washington) have gone even further than open primaries. For congressional and statewide races, they’ve replaced traditional party primaries that have separate Democratic and Republican ballots with fully nonpartisan contests that have a single, all-candidate ballot. In these elections, every eligible voter has the right to vote for any candidate in every election, regardless of party. Citizens are working to advance ballot initiatives for nonpartisan primaries in several states this year, including Nevada, Colorado, Montana, Idaho and South Dakota.

Changing our election rules to make them more democratic is an American tradition. A century ago, we scrapped the time-honored tradition of party bosses choosing nominees in proverbial smoke-filled rooms to give voters a more direct say via primaries. That was well before the time when independent voters outnumbered members of any major party. It is past time we continue to innovate and improve our elections.

Now, Super Tuesday isn’t looking so super. Indeed, millions of independent voters will be locked out of choosing who they might really want, and millions more will stay home because they don’t like their choices. The time has come to let independent voters fully participate. Our people, our country – and even our political parties – will be better for it.