• Home
  • Opinion
  • Quizzes
  • Redistricting
  • Sections
  • About Us
  • Voting
  • Events
  • Civic Ed
  • Campaign Finance
  • Directory
  • Election Dissection
  • Fact Check
  • Glossary
  • Independent Voter News
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up
  1. Home>
  2. open primaries>

Young voters are more independent

Dariel Cruz Rodriguez
August 15, 2022
Florida primary

Jessie Finlayson, a volunteer election worker, assembles voting booths at the Robert L. Gilder Elections Service Center in Tampa for Florida's closed primaries.

Octavio Jones/Getty Images

Rodriguez, who will be a first-year student at the University of Chicago in the fall, is the co-founder ofStudents for Open Primariesand starred in the documentary “The Young Vote.”

Two years ago, I wrote an op-ed about my pre-registration to vote in Florida as an NPA, shorthand for “no party affiliate”. In June, I turned 18 and officially became a registered voter. My party? Still no party. I am one of 3.8 million NPAs in the Sunshine State. I am not satisfied with the two-party dilemma, which has continued to impact our nation negatively on everything from the economy to the environment. And I am not alone, as 50 percent of millennials and Generation Z voters today are independent.

Unfortunately, closed primaries are not just an issue in Florida. In 14 other states and the District of Columbia, at least one party will conduct closed primaries for congressional and state-level offices in the current election cycle. This means that for the 30 percent of uncontested general elections in 2022, independents and third-party voters lose out on making their voice heard on important issues that are decided coming out of the primary.


Gen Zers and young voters have the most to lose in the upcoming midterm elections. We all saw the consequences of bad policy. Nationwide, we are now seeing the impacts that Congress’ failure to codify Roe v. Wade had on reproductive rights following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the landmark decision. Our politicians aren’t acting on the issues that matter to all voters, instead choosing to only act on what favors their own party. In Florida, legislators are focused on waging wars in the classroom and “setting aflame” the mouse at Disney World because it satisfies party-line voters in the primary. The current system doesn’t work, and while our generation has the most to lose, many are still locked out of the primaries.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

There is a huge dysfunction between who voters are versus whom they elect. Young voters have diverse political opinions, but the people being voted into office have little to no diversity in their political actions. As the future of the nation, young Americans will feel tomorrow’s impacts of the decisions that our elected officials are being trusted to make today. Open primaries will produce elected officials more accountable to their constituents than to their party while closed primaries will result in officials who are slow or unwilling to act on pressing matters impacting the future of the nation. Open primaries let independent voters who were previously shut out of the system vote; such a system also allows Democrats and Republicans to vote for whomever is the best candidate and not the person who has the more extreme voting record on either side of the aisle.

Despite the huge implications closed primaries have on elections, there is a concerning little amount of data on the very real impacts that closed primaries have on young voter turnout. The latest numbers directly related to young independents come from a 2018 report from Tufts University, which found that 44 percent of young voters identify as third party or independent.

That is why my organization, Students for Open Primaries, is moving forward with the 2022 Young Voter Survey. From now until the end of the summer season, we are reaching out to young voters from across the country to hear about their experiences with election-related issues, including closed primaries. Voters ages 16-39 can answer this short, 10-question survey at youngvotersurvey.com.

Please take this important referendum on election reform for young voters.

From Your Site Articles
  • Open primaries needed in NYC and across the country - The Fulcrum ›
  • How Florida's open primaries amendment failed to pass - The Fulcrum ›
  • Maine joins list of states with open primaries - The Fulcrum ›
  • Alaskans switch to open primaries and ranked elections - The Fulcrum ›
  • What you need to know about New York and Florida primaries - The Fulcrum ›
  • America’s future rests with independent and swing voters - The Fulcrum ›
  • Civil rights community must embrace independent voters - The Fulcrum ›
Related Articles Around the Web
  • Open and closed primaries - Fairvote ›
  • HOME - OPEN-PRIMARIES ›
  • Is Texas an open primary? Yes — here's what that means on ... ›
  • State Primary Election Types ›
open primaries

Join an Upcoming Event

New York Meet & Greet! – STAR Voting

Equal Vote
May 31, 2023 at 2:00 pm EDT
Read More

Democracy Happy Hour

Fix Democracy First
May 31, 2023 at 5:00 pm PDT
Read More

STAR Voting California Monthly Meeting

Equal Vote
Jun 07, 2023 at 6:00 pm PDT
Read More

Civic Synergy Leadership Program

Civic Synergy
Jun 07, 2023 at 7:00 pm EDT
Read More

Civic Synergy Leadership Program

Civic Synergy
Jun 08, 2023 at 7:00 pm EDT
Read More

Final Five Voting Happy Hour

Veterans for Political Innovation
Jun 12, 2023 at 4:30 pm CDT
Read More
View All Events

Want to write
for The Fulcrum?

If you have something to say about ways to protect or repair our American democracy, we want to hear from you.

Submit
Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
Confirm that you are not a bot.
×
Follow
Contributors

Hypocrisy of pro-lifers being anti-LGBTQIA

Steve Corbin

A dangerous loss of trust

William Natbony

Shifting the narrative on homelessness in America

David L. Nevins

Reform in 2023: Leadership worth celebrating

Layla Zaidane

Two technology balancing acts

Dave Anderson

Reform in 2023: It’s time for the civil rights community to embrace independent voters

Jeremy Gruber
latest News

Podcast: Saving democracy from & with AI

Our Staff
5h

Default? Financial crisis? Political theater?

David Butler
5h

Three practical presidential pledges to promote national prosperity

James-Christian B. Blockwood
31 May

Meet the Faces of Democracy: Justin Roebuck

Mia Minkin
31 May

Podcast: Why Is Congressional Oversight Important, and How Can It Be Done Well? (with Elise Bean)

Kevin R. Kosar
Elise J. Bean
30 May

Chipping away at election integrity: Virginia joins red state exodus from ERIC

David J. Toscano
30 May
Videos

Video: Why music? Why now?

David L. Nevins

Video: Honoring Memorial Day

Our Staff

Video: #ListenFirst Friday YOUnify & CPL

Our Staff

Video: What is the toll of racial violence on Black lives?

Our Staff

Video: What's next for migrants seeking asylum after Title 42

Our Staff

Video: An inside look at the campaign to repeal Pennsylvania’s closed primaries

Our Staff
Podcasts

Podcast: Saving democracy from & with AI

Our Staff
5h

Podcast: AI revolution: Disaster or great leap forward?

Our Staff
25 May

Podcast: Can we fix America's financial crises?

Our Staff
23 May

Podcast: Gen Z's fight for democracy

Our Staff
22 May
Recommended
Video: Why music? Why now?

Video: Why music? Why now?

Big Picture
Podcast: Saving democracy from & with AI

Podcast: Saving democracy from & with AI

Technology
Default? Financial crisis? Political theater?

Default? Financial crisis? Political theater?

Budgeting
Three practical presidential pledges to promote national prosperity

Three practical presidential pledges to promote national prosperity

Big Picture
Meet the Faces of Democracy: Justin Roebuck

Meet the Faces of Democracy: Justin Roebuck

State
Podcast: Why Is Congressional Oversight Important, and How Can It Be Done Well? (with Elise Bean)

Podcast: Why Is Congressional Oversight Important, and How Can It Be Done Well? (with Elise Bean)

Test Unlisted