OPEN THE PRIMARIES TO INDEPENDENT VOTERS

Currently there are almost 73,000 independent voters (nearly 1 out of 6 voters) in the District of Columbia who do not belong to a political party. The current system excludes these voters from being able to participate in DC’s most contested election: the Primary Election.

The District of Columbia has what are called “Closed” Primary Elections. Only voters registered with a political party can vote in the Primary Election.

This amounts to voter suppression and we can change this by opening up DC’s primary elections to ALL registered voters.

Opening the primaries to independent voters will allow the 2nd largest voting bloc in DC to participate in primary elections of their choice for all offices other than party offices.  It will not allow voters that are members of existing political parties to vote in a different party’s primary election.

Here’s how it would work: Prior to a Primary Election, independent voters would contact the DC Board of Elections and choose a party to vote in for that election.  When the voter receives their ballot in the mail or show up to vote, their ballot will be for whichever party they have choosen for that election cycle.