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The Fahey Q&A with two state legislators pushing to open Maine's primaries
Since organizing the Voters Not Politicians 2018 ballot initiative that put citizens in charge of drawing Michigan's legislative maps, Fahey has been the founding executive director of The People, which is forming statewide networks to promote government accountability. She regularly interviews colleagues in the world of democracy reform for our Opinion section.
Two Maine state senators, Democrat Chloe Maxmin of Nobeloboro and Republican Matt Pouliot of Augusta, are sponsoring legislation that would allow voters not registered with a political party to cast ballots in partisan primaries. After a term in the state House, last year Maxmin was elected at 28 as the youngest woman ever to serve in the state Senate. Pouliot, in his second term, is the assistant minority leader.
Our recent conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Fahey: How would your bill change Maine elections?
Maxmin: It's a semi-open primaries bill, so it would allow any unenrolled voter to vote in a primary election. It wouldn't allow a Democrat to vote in the Republican primary, or vice versa. It's meant to increase access to the party primary system.
Fahey: Why are you supporting this?
Pouliot: My party has the smallest membership in Maine; there are more Democrats and unenrolled voters than Republicans. It's important for more folks to be able to participate because the current process causes each party to nominate candidates usually further toward one end of the spectrum or the other. Semi-open primaries would help pull us toward the middle. By having unenrolled voters participate, we may have a better chance of getting candidates that are more aligned with the majority of folks' views, as opposed to polarized figures. It is extremely important that we find ways to get more civility in politics.
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Maxmin: I promised every independent I talked to on my campaign trail that I would support this bill; it came up all the time. A third of my constituents don't have a say in who they're going to end up voting for in the general election, and it generates feelings of distrust and being left out of the process. Semi-open primaries are one answer to that frustration, though certainly not a complete answer.
Fahey: What about Maine's political landscape makes this switch important?
Maxmin: We form our relationships around our common values. When I first got access to the voter database, I looked up everyone who raised me and realized they were all Republicans, but that never mattered. What matters is that you're a good person, a good neighbor. This bill would ensure our voting infrastructure matches the values of our communities.
Fahey: What is the history of this debate?
Maxmin: Last year the bill didn't pass because almost all Democrats voted against it. This made me quite upset because, at the time, the district I now represent was only 27 percent Democratic and had more independents than any party. But that version didn't include language, which we've added, to address concerns around preservation of delegate count and ballot tracking — important for folks more invested in the party structure. Now my impression is we'll get bipartisan support this time, and we're working to make sure of that.
Fahey: Is there anything Mainers can do to move the bill toward a hearing and a vote?
Maxmin: They can go to our site for help with emailing committee members, submitting written testimony or signing up to testify live. We also have a large group organizing with us that can help voters write letters to the editor and engage in the community.
Pouliot: One of the best ways for people to influence policy is to call their own state legislators. We get a lot of non-constituent emails which help raise an issue on our radar, but aren't always very compelling. People can even text or message their legislator on Facebook to convey how they feel.
Fahey: Is anyone opposing the bill?
Pouliot: Some folks in my party say it would dilute the Republican Party, take away the impetus for people to join a party and therefore make the parties weaker. If you removed the fear of the unknown about how semi-open primaries would impact parties, most would say this is a no-brainer.
Maxmin: As far as I can tell, there's no concerted group lobbying against it, but in conversations with folks there have been a couple objections. One is it could be used to unfairly swing a primary, but there are already stories of that with the current system. The other is that being part of a party is a privilege, and to vote in a primary, you need a D or an R next to your name. Nothing in democracy should be so exclusive that no one else has the right to access it unless they give something up.
Fahey: What has it been like working across the aisle?
Pouliot: I had some preconceived notions about Sen. Maxmin before we really got to know each other. Now I see she has good, sound reasoning behind her ideas, even if we sometimes disagree. We don't always have great opportunities for dialogue with other members of the legislature, and I think a lot of challenges in this country can be overcome with better dialogue.
Fahey: If you were speaking to a high school student or a new immigrant to this country, how would you describe what being an American means to you?
Maxmin: The reason I love American democracy is that we're fighting for a collective form of freedom. All of our interests are tied together, and all our fights for our rights are won when we lift each other up. We're in a moment where democracy is being used to pit people against each other. We're fighting over what makes us different. But to me, that's not what it means to be an American, and it's not why I choose to serve. Elections and democracy should be about including everyone and giving everyone equal opportunity, which ties to my support for semi-open primaries.
Pouliot: A lot of what she said is spot on. We are fortunate to live in a country where we can express our views at the ballot box. Our system, where citizens collectively decide who represents us, is incredible. Our Founders had a lot of foresight developing a system that is really just a work in progress. Our country, now 245 years old, is still very much an experiment. It's exciting to be part of that experiment.
- Alaskans switch to open primaries and ranked elections - The Fulcrum ›
- Maine GOP attempts to eliminate ranked-choice voting - The Fulcrum ›
Report: Few Americans have a say in most congressional elections
Despite record-high turnout in last year's general election, a new report found that a majority of congressional elections in 2020 were determined by only a small number of voters due to the widely used partisan primary system.
Unite America, which released "The Primary Problem" on Tuesday, found that just 10 percent of voters cast ballots in primaries that ultimately decided the winners of 83 percent of House seats. These "safe" seats are in districts that are reliably retained by the same party in nearly every election, so the real competition is not in the general election but in the primary.
The resulting problem, the report concludes, is high re-election rates for members of Congress, even though most voters don't feel adequately represented by their elected officials or approve of the job they are doing. Unite America's solution: Adopt open and nonpartisan primaries.
In most states, primaries are closed so only registered Democrats or Republicans can vote for which of their party's candidates they want to advance to the general election. This not only leaves out millions of minority party or unaffiliated voters, but it also leads to more polarizing politics.
Candidates in those districts tend to fall more on the extreme ends of the political spectrum in order to have a better chance at winning a partisan primary. Therefore, districts are pushed further into uncompetitive territory when it comes time for general elections.
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Last year, in 151 of the 361 congressional districts considered "safe," candidates for the dominant party ran unopposed in the primary. In the remaining 210 "safe" districts, voters in the non-dominant party "effectively had no voice in choosing their representative," per the report.
Unite America, which is a financial supporter of The Fulcrum, says more states adopting nonpartisan primaries will help solve the country's twin issues of dysfunction and polarization.
Nonpartisan primaries are designed to serve the voters, the report says. "They can give every citizen an equal voice, produce more representative outcomes, and improve governing incentives by ensuring our elected leaders are accountable to a broader swath of the electorate."
The most recent state to adopt such a system is Alaska. In last year's election, voters approved a nonpartisan top-four primary system that also uses ranked-choice voting. Starting in 2022, voters will rank their top candidates, with the four who receive the most support advancing to the general, regardless of party. California, Nebraska, Louisiana and Washington also use nonpartisan systems in which all candidates appear on the same primary ballot.
But most of the country uses some form of a partisan primary system. Nine states have closed primaries in which voters must be a registered Democrat or Republican and all other voters are excluded from participating, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
In 15 states, unaffiliated voters can participate in primaries, but the contests are still closed to cross-party voting. Six states allow voters to cross party lines in a primary, but they must publicly declare they are doing so. And the remaining 20 states are considered to have open primaries that either have all candidates listed on one ballot or allow voters to privately choose which party's ballot to vote.
There has been recent movement in Wisconsin to change the state's primary system to a nonpartisan one. Last week, a bipartisan group of state lawmakers introduced a bill to adopt "final-five voting." Under this system, there would be a single ballot for all primary candidates and the five who receive the most votes would advance to the general election. Then, voters would rank candidates in order of preference to determine the winner.
Democracy Found Executive Director Sara Eskrich, whose organization advocates for final-five voting in Wisconsin, said she's seen a lot of interest in this reform from voters and legislators alike because they recognize there is a systemic problem and the nonpartisan solution benefits everyone.
"Until major systemic reform is undertaken, it is likely incumbents will continue to change their behavior to avoid being primaried, rarely lose to more moderate challengers, and continue to put the interest of their narrow primary electorates over the public interest," the report concludes.
- Independent voters deserve a voice in primary elections - The Fulcrum ›
- How Florida's open primaries amendment failed to pass - The Fulcrum ›
- Alaskans switch to open primaries and ranked elections - The Fulcrum ›
When Floridians vote in primaries, only member of political parties may participate. Ashburn hopes to create change — there and across the country.
Why Gen Z needs to fight for the right to be both politically independent and potent
Ashburn is a high school junior in Broward County, Fla., and a founder of two nonprofits, Students for Open Primaries, which will be launched nationwide next week, and Bloom: Empowering the Military Teen. This piece was originally published by Independent Voter News.
Ever since I accompanied my mother to vote about a decade ago, I have been anxiously awaiting my 18th birthday. I remember walking with my mother into the polling place one sunny afternoon, listening as she explained what we were about to do. I watched her fill in her ballot and stood on my toes to try to catch a glance at the candidates' names. I was envious of the "I voted" sticker she got when she was done, and I couldn't wait to get my own sticker someday.
As I grew older and began to form my own political beliefs, the desire to vote became stronger. I watched the news and political satire, researched candidates and read about the hot-button political issues of the day — all of which influenced my political alignment.
I was staunchly pro-Republican for a while, then staunchly pro-Democrat. Eventually I realized my beliefs did not fully align with any party, so I decided I wouldn't be a part of any party.
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But I didn't know at the time that the decision to become independent would deny me the right to vote.
In Florida, where I live, we have a closed primary system. Independents (also called non-party affiliates, or NPAs) and third-party voters are shut out of primary elections based on their political affiliation (or their lack thereof), even though their tax dollars are used to pay for these elections. Talk about taxation without representation!
There are 3.7 million independent voters in Florida, which is about a third of the electorate. Independents come from all walks of life and political ideologies, but closed primaries disproportionately affect young voters like me. The younger generations are more politically independent than ever before. About half of all Millennials and more than one-third of Gen Z voters identify as independent, making the next generation of the electorate the largest and most independent in our nation's history.
In Florida, and many states, our general elections have become so uncompetitive that most real choices happen in the primary. Many general elections are predetermined. Partisans tell us just to get out and exercise our right to vote in the general election, but we're not stupid. We see the fix is in right before our eyes. We need to abandon the partisan systems we have in place that are keeping us apart and build institutions that actually reflect us.
I had the opportunity to start a student campaign for open primaries last summer. Along with my partner Dariel Cruz Rodriguez, we launched Students for Open Primaries in my home state. Florida had a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November that would have let all voters vote in a top-two open primary system. We advocated for the amendment and organized fellow students to speak out for reform.
We tirelessly campaigned for four months. We ran a social media campaign, we called young voters, we spoke at virtual town halls, we did media interviews and, yes, we even wrote op eds. We dedicated our summer and much of our fall to the cause. But when Election Day came, the amendment, unfortunately, failed to pass — falling 3 percent short of the 60 percent supermajority required.
Because of that loss, I will not be able to cast my first-ever ballot in next year's primaries as an NPA.
But here's the thing, I'm still independent. And there are millions of young people across the country who, like me, can't vote because of closed primaries. We are American citizens, and we have a right to vote!
That's why Dariel and I have teamed up with the Open Primaries Education Fund to take our group national — because young voters are ready for change.
We are committed to educating students and organizing student leaders in every state to speak out for democratic reform. We are launching a comprehensive education program that teaches students about America's primary systems and equips them with the knowledge they need to bring open primaries to their state. We hope to cultivate a community full of passionate students ready to create real change in their communities.
Even though I will not be able to vote as an NPA in my first election, I am still fighting to have my voice and the voices of all my fellow young independents heard. Students for Open Primaries is ready to aid in that fight, advocating for the rights of every voter regardless of political affiliation.
Visit IVN.us for more coverage from Independent Voter News.
- Q&A with co-founders of Students for Open Primaries - The Fulcrum ›
- Alaskans switch to open primaries and ranked elections - The Fulcrum ›
- How Florida's open primaries amendment failed to pass - The Fulcrum ›
The legislation's sponsors were inspired by Spencer Cox's near-loss in the the 2020 Republican gubernatorial primary.
Open primaries? Republicans move to make Utah voting even more insular.
The movement to weaken the major parties' hold on primaries, the de facto elections in much of this politically polarized nation, has been dealt a fresh setback in Utah.
Gov. Spencer Cox is expected to sign legislation, which won final passage this week from his fellow Republicans in dominant control of the Legislature, to prevent Utahns from switching parties within three months of a primary.
The stated goal is to sharply limit "party raiding" by Democrats interested in setting the shade of red for the state's map by voting in GOP primaries — assuming their motivation will only be disrupting the opposing party's genuine desires, not shaping the state's power structure. But good-government advocates argue primaries should be open to all, on the theory that governments will be more consensus-driven and productive if candidates have to appeal to people of all stripes in their nominating campaigns, not just their bases on the hard left or hard right.
The bill wouldn't affect the Democrats, because in Utah their primaries are already open to all registered voters.
The Senate cleared the measure 22-3 on Wednesday. The House had passed it 41-30 last month. It would bar anyone who changes partisan registration after March 31 from voting in that year's primaries, normally at the end of June. In a partial victory for open primary advocates, the original bill was amended to allow independents to align with one of the big parties until the last minute, but it would inhibit members of minor parties.
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Sponsors said they were spurred to action by last year's hard-fought GOP primary for governor. Jon Huntsman, who had been ambassador to Russia and China and ran for president in 2012, actively recruited voters of all stripes to help him reclaim the governorship but lost the nomination to Cox, then the lieutenant governor, by 6,300 votes. (Cox won in the fall by 2-to-1.)
Republican conservatives asserted that Democrats flooding to the more moderate Huntsman had almost cost the party it's more ideologically appropriate choice. But a study by Princeton's Electoral Innovation Lab concluded that unaffiliated voters were the vast majority of the tens of thousands who joined the GOP in time to vote in the closed primary.
The term "party raiding" was coined by the majority in a 1973 Supreme Court case affirming the constitutionality of closed primary systems.
The United Utah Party lambasted the Legislature for "working overtime to satisfy partisan interests instead of the will of the electorate," adding: "As undemocratic as that is, it's made worse by the fact that the Republican primaries are funded by all taxpayers in Utah, not just the Republican ones."
- Electoral reform is happening — but not fast enough - The Fulcrum ›
- Straight-ticket voting's steady disappearance reaches Utah - The ... ›
- Election innovations in Utah protected citizens & democracy - The ... ›
