Open Primaries

Russell Daniels, the Digital Communication Manager at an organization known as Open Primaries, drops by to talk about how the election system in many states shuts out all but a select group of people when voting for political representatives. How can this be? Isn’t this profoundly anti-democratic? Indeed it is.

Because of gerrymandering, the selection of representatives doesn’t take place during the November election; rather, the real action takes place during the primaries. But many states require you to join a political party in order to vote in a primary, even though your tax dollars are being used to run the election. You heard that right; you’re paying for an election in which you are prevented from participating. This is not only inherently unfair, but it is, at its core, highly undemocratic.

Russell Daniels explains how the primary system works and what us ordinary citizens can do to make these primaries inclusive and fair. While a number of states have already implemented the policies being advocated by Open Primaries, there is still much more work to be done.

Listen in and learn how you can participate to open our primary system and make our nation a more perfect union.