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.
