Colorado’s open primary qualifies, joining five states in the movement to abolish party primaries and solve the “Primary Problem”
With less than 70 days until Election Day, Colorado officially became the sixth - and final - state to qualify an open primary initiative for the 2024 ballot. Since the early 1900s, there’s never been more than three election-related ballot initiatives in any single year. Along with Arizona, Idaho, South Dakota, Montana and Nevada, voters in the Centennial State will have the opportunity to usher in a new era of better representation and more functional governance by improving their elections.
Open primary initiatives in all six states aim to address the root causes of America’s political dysfunction - the “Primary Problem.” According to groundbreaking research from the Unite America Institute, a mere 8% of voters elected 83% of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022. So far in 2024, 7% have elected 84%. The Primary Problem underpins the polarization and gridlock that prevents Congress and state legislatures across the country from addressing the top issues on voters’ minds.
Each initiative would abolish party primaries and replace them with an open primary where all candidates appear on the same ballot and every eligible voter can participate, immediately enfranchising more than 1 million registered independents who can’t currently vote in closed primaries. The candidates with the most votes would advance to the general election, regardless of party, where an instant runoff would ensure a majority winner. The number of candidates advancing to the general election varies depending on the state.
Nick Troiano, Unite America Executive Director and author of The Primary Solution, issued the following statement celebrating this historic moment:
“2024 is already a history-making year, and today is another record-breaking moment. From Arizona to Idaho, millions of voters across six states are showing the country that there’s a path forward out of a broken politics we’re all sick of. We can move away from a politics where we continue to demonize each other and get nothing done, and toward one that carries out the will of the voters.
“The beauty of America’s federalist system is that the states get to set their own election laws and chart their own path forward. Each of the six states has a slightly different solution to the Primary Problem, but they all send the same message that most Americans agree with: We the taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook for partisan elections. And to be elected to office, you should have to win the support of a majority of voters.
“Unite America is proud to stand with the majority of Americans who are demanding fairer elections where they can hold their elected leaders accountable. And we’re ready to build on this year’s historic success through November. We know party bosses and special interests will continue to pull out all the stops to suppress the will of the voters and defend the broken status quo, but at the end of the day, it’s the voters who will have the final word.”
