They are excluded from voting in the state’s taxpayer-funded primary elections, and are not fairly represented.
Nonaffiliated Oregon Voters Now Outnumber Democrats and Republicans for the First Time (wweek.com)
A small percentage of voters are deciding Oregonians’ choices in the general election. Open primaries boost participation in lower-turnout primaries and help ensure a broader set of Oregonians are shaping the November ballot. The Oregonian 4/10/24 “Editorial: Join a major party, just for the primary” (Shemia Fagan SoS won primary 7% registered voters; Thatcher just 11%) The Oregonian 10/27/19 “Editorial, Opening Oregon’s primaries would give voice to people, not parties.” (AG Rosenblum elected by less than 16% registered voters).
More than half of young Oregon voters (18-34) and growing are nonaffiliated and are disenfranchised under the current system. 83% of Oregonians who registered via Motor Voter in 2020 are non-affiliated voters. Oregon 360 Media (2021) Reforming our elections: Oregon registers, but does not empower all voters (substack.com).
“When states allow unaffiliated voters to participate in primaries for the first time, voter turnout increases, and the electorate grows more demographically and politically representative.” The Effect of Open Primaries on Turnout and Representation | Bipartisan Policy Center (opening primaries to NAVs increases NAV share of the electorate by 12%)
Princeton Electoral Innovation Lab presentation to National Assn. of Nonpartisan Reformers (2/5/25)
“[J]ust 8% of the U.S. voting age population effectively elected 83% of the U.S. House in partisan primaries. The result is that elected officials are not accountable to the vast majority of voters, which rewards extremism, fuels division, and distorts representation.” Unite America Institute, Not Invited to the Party Primary,
“Closed party primaries are force multipliers for the polarization that afflicts the United States . . . Fear among moderate, measured or mainstream candidates of being “primaried” moved them away from bipartisan cooperation and edged their politics further to the extremes.” Compare Cheney and Murkowski’s Political Fates—It’s All About the Primary – Sightline Institute 8/19/22
California and Washington state’s Top-2 Open Primary has been successful at electing moderates and reducing Legislative polarization, according to research from California Chamber of Commerce, USC Schwarzenegger Institute, other nonpartisan primary research:
Reducing Legislative Polarization: Top Two & Open Primaries are Association with More Moderate Legislators. Christian Grose, USC Schwarzenegger Institute (2020)
Stapilus: Oregon open primary initiative would let all participate | Oregon Capital Insider (Majority NAV Counties: Clackamas, Clatsop, Columbia, Coos, Curry, Deschutes, Jackson, Jefferson, Josephine, Klamath, Lincoln, Linn, Malheur, Marion, Morrow, Polk, Tillamook, Umatilla, Wasco, Washington, Yamhill).
“Closed primaries have large demobilizing impacts on Asian American and Latinx voters.” University of Southern California, The Demobilizing Effect of Primary Electoral Institutions on Voters of Color (6/3/21)
“Asian American voters are twice as likely to identify as purely independent.” AAPI Data, New York Times, Asian American Voters Could Be Key Swing Voters of 2024 (8/13/24)
Endorsements on the ballot provide voters important information about candidates and encourage political party participation. Allowing parties to cross-nominate multiple candidates (i.e. Republican/Libertarian or Democratic/Working Families) helps elect leaders who represent broader coalitions.
Endorsements are designed so candidates cannot self-endorse but need legitimate endorsement from a party to avoid party label hijacking. Washington, California, and Alaska allow party label hijacking by persons not connected to the party.
Fusion voting (up to three endorsements on the ballot) allows minor parties to elevate their policy agenda and gives voters a greater choice of policy platforms and priorities. Protect Democracy, Fusion Voting Explained (12/19/23); American Bar Association Task Force for American Democracy, Reviving the American Tradition of Fusion Voting (5/31/24); Protect Democracy, Fusion Voting and a Revitalized Role for Minor Parties in Presidential Elections (12/14/23); The New Republic, What Is “Fusion Voting”? Just a Way to Save the Country, That’s All (6/15/24).
Fusion voting allows parties to cross-nominate candidates and can be a first step toward multiparty democracy and broader electoral reform, such as proportional representation. New America, From Polarization to Pluralism: Harnessing Parties and Fusion Voting for a Healthier Democracy (6/26/23).
As ballots are being mailed to Oregon voters, we are reminded that the largest group of voters in our state – the 1.1 million voters who decline to be registered with a political party — will be denied a voice in selecting the candidates for Governor, U.S. Congress and for the Legislature in the November election. That’s 38% of all Oregon registered voters who cannot vote in taxpayer-funded elections that decide our state’s most important representatives.
This has to change – as a matter of fairness for those voters and as a recognition that our democracy will work better for all of us when we open our primary elections to all voters. A large majority of Oregonians agree.
But, given the time constraints we are facing to qualify our open primary measures for the 2026 ballot, we have decided to refocus our efforts on the 2027 Legislative Session and 2028 election.
We are grateful to the many volunteers and supporters who are calling attention to the need for opening up Oregon’s closed primary system. And we look forward to working with them in the year ahead to establish full voting rights for Oregon’s non-party voters – by continuing to demand action on this issue by the Legislature and by filing new measures for the 2028 election. Please sign up at voterfairness.com for updates moving forward.
